Coffee Beans and Watches
by Year of the dog
Summary: It was the little moments that one remembered. Shinji/FeMC collection #12 Oddity: "Is there a reason you're carrying that around?"
1. Frills

_So this marks the beginning of my little collection that I will soon have going. Really this is just my solution to getting out all the ideas I have for this couple. I can think up scenarios galore, but they all end up being short little moments like this. So viola! None of these ficlets should end up being really long, nor having any real connection to each other, but if they do it'll be small. Anyways, this one actually wasn't meant to be the first, but well it was the first one I ended up finishing so I thought, what the heck and posted it anyway. I hope you enjoy this, as well as everything else that ends up in here._

Disclaimer: There was once a time when I was in charge of the whole of Atlus. And then I woke up and realized it was just a dream.

**Frills**

"What is that?"

"It's an apron. Why Senpai, I hadn't realized your vision was failing you this badly."

"I know what it is you moron. I meant why are you _wearing _it?"

Riichi cocked her head quizzically. Though whether she was really confused or just doing that to be cute he wasn't sure. His gaze was glued to the offending object. Baby pink, immodestly short, and almost obscenely frilly. At first he had been under the horrified impression that she had been naked underneath the damn thing, but as he got a better look it turned out she had indeed donned appropriate clothing. In his defense that short (infuriatingly so) skirt and pink camisole were pretty nonexistent in comparison to those damn frills. Even so, he made a mental note to completely ignore anything that came out of that idiot Junpei's mouth from now on. It was beginning to make him think pointless things.

"Senpai, you seem troubled. Is it that distracting?"

Shinjirou shook himself of his reverie and looked up to see her sweetly smiling expression. He knew her though, and thus knew how to read her quite well, and honestly the girl looked the definition of smug. He found his lip curling in irritation and the boy snorted roughly.

"Whatever," he muttered, choosing the option that was most likely to teach her a lesson. She would _not_ tie him around her little finger with the ease he had been allowing her. It was damn time he stopped spoiling her; she was obviously letting it get to her head. "I'm teaching you crème brulee today right?" He made his way around the counter and began to remove pans and utensils, setting them on top of the granite countertop with the ease of someone who did this often.

Riichi screwed her face in a light pout before assisting him, pulling out whatever it was that looked like it needed to come out, and some things that probably had no business being near the counter. When they had finished Shinjirou eyed the things she had removed before sighing and ignoring them. "Almost as bad as Fuuka," he muttered under his breath. Riichi, who had heard, didn't take this too kindly either.

"All right," he spoke up, indicating he was beginning. "First you're gonna need to…" as soon as he focused his gaze on her again he couldn't help but trail off. Had the thing _shrunk_? He swore it was showing far more skin then when he had first seen it. Maybe the sheer amount of frills for such a flimsy article of clothing was making him lose it.

The girl looked confused for a split second before her lips curled into a smile that screamed dangerous. "Yes?" she ventured. "What should I do?" She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned foreword slightly. This action alone would had done nicely to draw one's eyes to her chest, but the stupid apron seemed to only make this part of her anatomy even more noticeable.

Shinjirou had to catch himself, and his head shot sideways so fast that there was no way she didn't notice. He cursed himself for allowing her to gain the upper hand, and as such refused to look at her again. "You're going to stick the cream in that pan," he said, snatching at the one he meant and almost throwing the poor dish at her, "and then put in a teaspoon of the vanilla extract." His voice was beginning to shake, which irritated him greatly, which only helped to make it shake more. To add fuel to the already blazing fire (and his now slightly burning cheeks) Riichi continued to look increasingly satisfied as he went on. Damnable girl.

"Then?" she asked, her voice far too innocent for her current expression.

"Then…"

He tried to continue, he made as valiant an effort as he could. But that damn apron and the fact that she obviously knew how to use it was making it impossible to get over his earlier shock. Shinjirou sighed, seemed to concede defeat, and leaned wearily on the counter. "Where the hell did you even find that?" he finally asked.

Riichi's face twisted into an expression of pure glee before her hands clenched the edges of the bottom hem and stretched it slightly upwards to show it off. "Oh Yukari let me borrow it," she explained. "It's a reject from the culture festival. Something about it being too short."

"I'll say," he muttered. She didn't miss it, but in pursuit of her ultimate goal she decided to mercifully ignore it.

"I remembered you'd said something about not getting ingredients all over my clothes, so when I saw it I thought it would help." She met his gaze and smiled sweetly, "Does it cause problems?"

Was she honestly going to make this out to be his fault? When Riichi refused to avert her gaze he decided that yes, she was going to play that card. Shinjirou found himself sighing again and couldn't even find the energy to snap at her.

Then she finally asked it. The question that would gnaw at his mind until he couldn't take it anymore, and that would seal her fate for the rest of the day and potentially the next morning as well.

"Should I take it off?"

Shinjirou seemed to find the energy that had eluded him the past ten minutes and snatched the wrist that had moved to untie the meager string at her waist that claimed to hold the damn apron on her. "Not until we're in my room you're not!"

Riichi at least had the decency to look mildly surprised at how quickly he had responded. "How bold Shinji," she cooed. Her free hand gently grasped the collar of his shirt and she pulled herself up on tiptoe to bring her face closer to his.

She had that infuriating (and though he'd never admit it out loud, really kind of sexy) glint in her eye, and looked far too pleased with herself, but at that moment he didn't really give a damn. If she wanted it that badly then by god he was going to let her have it.

"Just one thing." She 'hmmed' in response but was far too busy reveling in her success to really be listening to him. "Could you stop seducing me in the lounge. One of these days I'm going to jump you where everyone can see, and not give a damn if they do_." _


	2. Stalking

_I knew I had a lot of ideas started, but I really never thought I would get another one of these out so soon. That's good for you guys though right? Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first one, I appreciate it and I'm glad you liked it so much. I hope you guys like this one as well, although it features other characters more than it really does Shinji and Femmie. It still reeks of them being together though, so there's at least that._

**Stalking**

"Operation Chef Recon start! Lady Bowgirl, report your status?"

"I'm standing right here you moron! And what's with that stupid name?"

"PMSing. Check and noted. Boxing Champ how 'bout you?"

"Junpei, what the hell?"

"Also PMSing. This mission might hit a few snags along the way."

Yukari took her chance and lifted her right leg to drill her knee into Junpei's stomach. The boy responded with a resulting grunt as the air was knocked clean out of him. When Yukari removed her knee, he fell into a crouch and held his stomach gingerly with both hands. After a few minutes of what might have been tearless sobs, he managed to wheeze out, "Uncalled for."

The girl sniffed, fully satisfied with her work. Akihiko snorted from behind the both of them. "You two are going to get us caught," he warned.

Junpei, who by now had composed himself enough to stand back up, looked over his shoulder in irritation. "Don't complain now," he snapped. "You didn't have to come."

Akihiko merely growled right back. "You guys were shadowing my best friend. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Hush," Yukari ordered. The sheer demanding tone of hers was enough to make them obey without question. The boys figured she would be a very fearsome mother in the future.

Their attention now returned to what had previously held them captivated. Across the open floor and in front of the display of seasonings, two people seemed to be deep in conversation. The girl was pointing at different spices before putting her fingers to her lips as if in thought and then pointing at more. The boy would shake his head, seem to suggest something else, then tilt his head back lightly in what could have been a sigh. He never pointed at anything, but that might have been partly because he held a grocery basket in one hand, and his other was stuffed deep inside the pocket of his coat.

"What do you think they're talking about?" Yukari finally asked.

Junpei shrugged noncommittally. "I'unno," he gave, being as helpful as ever. "You think they're planning another party? Du~ude if we get to eat more of Shinjirou-senpai's food…" his sentence trailed off in his excitement.

Akihiko didn't give any input. He instead busied himself with narrowing his eyes and straining to hear better. It was so damn _hard _to hear anything when he was fifteen feet away and in the company of two others who had decided to be so damn _loud_.

"Senpai? Yukari-chan? Junpei-kun?"

All three of them froze, before stiffly turning their necks to meet the gaze of whoever had addressed them. Fuuka stood before them, looking confused, bewildered, and worried all at once. "Is everything okay?" she chanced, when she realized she had now just procured the attention of three very frantic teenagers. "Oh, is that Shinjirou-senpai and Riichi-chan?" A soft smile broke out across her face and she raised her hand to wave across the floor at them. "He-" the girl's call was cut short by Yukari's hand on her mouth, and the boys hands clamped roughly on her arms to pull her down and out of sight behind a display of rice.

Junpei got over his shock first, but his eyes still shot around them, frantically making sure they hadn't been noticed. "Be quiet," he hissed desperately. "If we get caught there's no telling what Shinjirou-senpai will do to us."

Fuuka looked even more befuddled than before. "W-what?" she squeaked. "Why?" When the three of them let go of her, she held her hands to her chest in worry. "They don't know you're here?"

Yukari shook her head. "Well, no," she admittedly halfheartedly. Obviously she was ashamed she had been caught doing something so childish.

"Isn't that stalking?"

The three newly dubbed 'stalkers' each found themselves unable to look her in the face.

Fuuka picked up on this and frantically tried to go about righting her wrong. "Um, uh, umm," she stammered, trying to find the right thing to say. "Well, why are you stalk-following them?"

Akihiko sighed and placed his forehead in his palm. "Well, they've been acting weird the past few days," he admitted. "When they went out together we figured it was the perfect time to figure out what was going on."

Now given a clear opening to put in his own explanation, Junpei followed up. "Riichi's been passing up going out for ramen because she's had 'earlier engagements'," he snorted. "She _never _passes up free food. In fact, most of the time you have to pry her away from the damn counter."

"The other day Senpai asked me whether girls really liked being cooked for, or if they thought it was freaky," Yukari added. "He seemed really uncomfortable about it too. I thought it was weird since he had already cooked for all of us that one time."

Apparently roped in by the excitement of it all Fuuka placed a hand over her mouth. "They were acting strangely the other night. I swore Riichi-chan was sitting on Shinjirou-senpai's lap in the lounge. But when I got a closer look they were almost on opposite ends of the couch."

The three juniors looked at each other before their gazes went back to the silver-haired boxer. It was like they had each decided they were going to take turns telling what had been weird about the two, and it was now his. He locked eyes with them before his face went a light pink and his gaze went to the floor. "..chi…ear…" he mumbled, and the others exchanged glances before leaning closer.

"Come again?" Yukari asked.

"…asked me…" he mumbled again, voice going slightly higher, but still not enough to really be heard.

"Senpai you really gotta speak up," Junpei prodded.

"Riichi asked me if black underwear really was a turn on for guys!" he snapped, his embarrassment making him irritated. Upon giving the proclamation his face went an even darker shade of red and he had to bury it in his hands.

The younger three were stunned to say the least. Junpei went pale, and Yukari did the opposite by turning a light pink. Fuuka didn't seem to know _what _to do.

"You have got to be joking me," Yukari finally managed out.

After having gotten over his initial shock, Junpei actually seemed to find the thing kind of amusing. "Really?" he asked. "You mean she seriously asked you that?" He let out a loud guffaw and clutched his stomach for the second time that day. "Oh god, I can't believe she actually asked you that?"

Akihiko lifted his head to glare menacingly at the other boy. "Will you shut up," he snarled, more irritated at being mocked than anything else. "If you were any damn louder we'd be caught in no time flat."

That was what seemed to remind them all of their earlier mission. They each, including Fuuka who seemed to have decided since she was here she might as well join in, peeked over the edge of the display, having an increasingly hard time seeing over it with all the boxes of rice staring back at them. By now they had also acquired quite a few curious bystanders. Akihiko figured they really deserved it. After all they were acting suspiciously in a _grocery store_ of all places. But though many were staring at them, the two they had been staring _at _were no where in sight.

"They're gone!" Junpei hissed. He ducked back down before glancing at all of them frantically. "Operation Chef Recon is in peril! I repeat Operati-""We get it already!" Yukari interrupted him. "They must be at the checkout line. We can't lose them, or this whole stupid thing would be worthless."

The other three silently agreed as they all stood up and went running towards the cash registers. If they hadn't been getting enough attention before, they were certainly making up for it now. Everyone they passed looked at them with either surprise or curiosity. Akihiko couldn't help but admit a small part of him felt like they were in a circus act.

Sure enough when they had succeeded in reaching the front of the store the two were walking out the doors. "Alright," Junpei stopped them, looking far too serious for this kind of situation. "We'll hang back a bit, then after they've gained some distance we'll go after them. We can't get caught now got it!" The other three nodded, Yukari looking almost as serious, Fuuka looking slightly flustered as always. Junpei waited until their targets had gotten a good thirty feet in front of the store before he turned to them again, yelled 'Break!' and then led them all out into the street.

They followed the pair for about another mile before they ended up losing them at an intersection.

oOo

"Hmhmhm," the brunette giggled merrily as she leaned against the brick wall of the building behind her. "They really are too cute."

Shinjirou just snorted. "I can't believe they dragged Aki into it. That moron doesn't know when to say no."

Riichi placed a slim finger to her cheek. "Well, he was probably worried about you. From all accounts we've apparently been acting really weirdly." She giggled again, and shook her head. "What I can't believe is that they haven't figured it out yet."

"What?" he ventured. "That you're a minx who has no regard for her personal safety?"

She puffed her cheeks out in irritation. "That's not nice. It's not my fault you have no self control."

He merely snorted again. "Who's the one who makes it so there's no possible way for me to have self control?" She couldn't say anything to that, and instead resorted to smiling sweetly at him. He rolled his eyes, but couldn't help the slight smile that graced his face as well. "Are we going to go make use of this now, or would you rather wait for those idiots to find us again?" he jostled the bag in his hand slightly in emphasis.

Riichi laughed softly before picking herself off the wall. "Who in their right mind would choose waiting over eating something you made?" she teased.

Shinjirou arched an eyebrow before motioning towards the opening of the alleyway. "Well let's get going then. I want to get this done before they get back home. It'll be a pain in the ass if they realize I'm only cooking for you."

She smiled and nodded again. They reentered the street and after a few blocks she managed the courage to link her hand in his. He didn't show any sign of having realized it, but he also didn't shake her off. Having become a master of his body language, that meant he was giving his full consent. This was enough to make her beam all over again.

"Hey Rii." He finally broke the comfortable silence when they were almost all the way home. She looked up at him and cocked her head in expectance. "Did you honestly ask Aki about underwear choice?"

Riichi felt her eyes go wide before she let a teasing smile lace it's way across her face. "Hmm, I guess you'll have to find out after dinner now won't you."

"Hmph."

oOo

The next morning, upon being questioned mercilessly by three different people, Riichi assured her classmates that she had slept _very _well last night.


	3. Doodles

_Hello again all. I had actually intended for this to be the first one published, but well it took me a lot longer to finish than I had originally thought it would . Which surprised me since it's so short. Well meh. I hope you guys all enjoy this, and please tell me what you think. Reviews motivate me to write faster you know. (Shameless attempt at bribery.)_

**Doodles**

After the initial one had appeared, it hadn't taken him long to figure out who the culprit was. It took him only a little bit more time to figure out she had no intention of stopping.

The first time it showed up, it had taken him a while to find since it was so small. But after gazing tirelessly over the recipe card, his eyes finally spied the blemish. A small, pink heart had been doodled on the corner of it; out of the way, but still oh so distracting. Shinjirou hadn't known what to do with it, nor who had been stupid enough to deface something of his. But the next morning when he had found a smiley face scratched lightly into the wood of his desk it had all made sense.

Riichi, fearless as they came, was the only one who could do something this moronic, and get away scott-free. When staring at the stupid face that almost seemed to be mocking him, he wondered if maybe they should just move their sessions to her room. She wouldn't draw on her own stuff would she?

He had figured that she would stop with maybe one or two more. He had been wrong. So wrong in fact that a week later he had started to become suspicious when something didn't have some stupid drawing on it.

They were never big or really elaborate. The most detail she had ever gone into had been a unicorn on one of his magazines. (This had been the only one he had stared at with more intensity than usual. He attributed it to the shock of having an image of the kind on something he owned.) For the most part she stuck to hearts, stars, smileys, and tiny flowers. It was pretty much anything a preschooler could draw. It wasn't what they were that bugged him though, it was the amount it seemed she needed to doodle everywhere. It was to the point where the other occupants of the dorm were beginning to get suspicious of him. He scoffed and ignored the whole thing. As if _he _would draw on his own stuff like that.

But they really were everywhere. The sides of his desk were now multicolored, every recipe card he owned now sported an image, she had somehow managed to get pen on his coffee mug, all his magazines were defaced, and he even now had stars doodled all over the name plague next to his room. It was starting to become ridiculous, but he wouldn't force her to stop. He supposed she was probably waiting for such a reaction anyway.

It wasn't until two weeks into the doodle invasion, that it occurred to him she might have wanted something back.

He had woken up to her feigning sleep, (She was such a bad faker it was almost hilarious.) and had been just about to jostle her when something caught the corner of his eye. Upon further inspection, she had doodled a medium-sized, and very pink, heart on the corner of his pillow. He had been speechless. To think she had even defaced the place where they slept. But then he noticed the marker next to his elbow. He would have thought it was the culprit had it not been a dark burgundy color. Shinjirou swore he saw her crack an eyelid expectantly before quickly shutting it again.

When he put two and two together, the boy couldn't help the sigh that forced it's way out. It was stupid, probably the stupidest thing he would ever do, but he uncapped the marker and drew a tiny star in the corner of her pillow. Once done he tossed the offensive utensil off the bed and then settled back down. When she thought he had gone back to sleep, Riichi's eyes shot open and she quickly righted herself on her elbows to see the result. Shinjirou cracked an eye and watched her beam lovingly down at his handiwork. Seeing her so happy was enough to make him smile himself.

She bit her lip, fidgeted a bit, and then he felt her curl up into him. He felt her finger tentatively touch his chest, then trace a small heart, over and over and over again. His lips tugged into another smile, and he curled his arms around her. Despite the fact that she now knew he was still awake, she continued to doodle until she fell asleep.


	4. Hands

_I really surprised myself when writing this. Originally I hadn't intended this to be so somber. I can't really tell you __**where**__ I had intended it to go, but it certainly wasn't where it went. In any case, I want to apologize for how serious it is, but I did like it so I felt it deserved to be stuck in here. _

**Hands**

She loved his hands. It wasn't the way they so expertly handled cooking utensils; nor was it the way they seemed so comfortable with an ax in them; it wasn't even how warm his hand felt when he (grudgingly of course; he was far to shy to actually admit he enjoyed it as well) held hers. Not that she didn't like any of those reasons. In fact she adored them. But they weren't what really made her so intoxicated with his touch.

It was when he would brush her hair out of her eyes that she really found herself falling.

His hands weren't soft, nor smooth, or really anything that one would normally want their significant other to feel like. They were rough with calluses, most of the time shaky and unsure, but they were warm. So very warm, and full of so much love that the first time he had unconsciously done it she had almost felt tears leak out of her eyes.

The back of his fingers would gently graze her forehead and brush softly against brown locks. Her bangs would obey and lift out of her eyes for a moment before they settled back in their previous position. But he never stops, and she feels his fingers -large and rough and _oh_ so gentle- twist and move to trace the outline of where her ear meets her jawbone. Traveling down to her chin before he tips her head up to get a better look at her eyes, and smiles. Awkwardly; confidently; lovingly.

It's these times that she wants nothing more than to be with this boy forever. To never detach herself from this fairytale existence, and break the bonds of reality by locking themselves up tight somewhere that no one, and the cruel realities of their situation, could get to them. If she had her way, their whole messed-up ideas of what 'everyday' was -the ones that had been forced upon them no matter how unwanted and undeserving they were- would fly out the window and they could just be _truly _normal for once. They could sink into the fairytale of teenage dramas and petty squabbles over stupid things like forgetting to call the other back.

But she is not a little girl anymore. She realizes this is ridiculous and in turn is something that they will probably never be allowed to grasp. That is why they never talk about the future; because they are so damn unsure about whether or not they really have one. And even if she shudders every time he caresses her, and she has to catch herself from clinging onto him like some possessive pre-teen. And even if he sometimes gazes at her with longing, whispers words he would never say unless they weren't in the throes of passion while he claims her, they still never talk about might-be's and could-happen's.

Yet she finds herself unwilling to completely give up the idea that there is a sliver of possibility they're allowed to be like this forever. So whenever she gets home and sees him sleeping on the couch (waiting for her, but will never admit to it.) she undoes her hair, and gently removes all of her hairpins. With her hair down, she has more chances to feel his rough hands on her face as he brushes away bangs that refuse to be moved.

Because she loves his hands, and like this there's nothing separating them from being two 'normal' teenagers, who are allowed to think of nothing else but being together.


	5. Skipping

_This was born from my own curiosity actually. I really am curious as to what Shinjirou really does all day. I mean, sure at first he spent his whole day out behind the station, but he's not necessarily doing that anymore after he joins SEES. Especially in the latter parts of his stay. So out came this. It's also because I needed to brighten back up the collection after my last one. (Though some of you guys didn't think it was so grave, which made me a little thankful.) Thanks for all the support so far, I feel like a broken record but I really do appreciate it all. _

**Skipping**

It was a question that she had running through her head for quite a while. But she hadn't really had the courage, nor the right circumstances to ask it. She had actually ended up surprising herself when she couldn't hold it in anymore and felt the words spill from her mouth without her consent.

"What do you do everyday?"

Shinjirou looked up from his task of pulling his sweatpants back on. His expression was filled with confusion for a moment before he replaced it with a scoff. "Does it really matter?" he asked as he finally hitched up his pants and tied the drawstring.

Riichi curled her knees to her chest and pouted. She had expected that kind of answer -why she hadn't wanted to ask the stupid question in the first place- but it didn't change the fact that she had still wanted something a bit more. He could be so cold sometimes. "It does matter," she responded through pursed lips. "Don't you want to know what I do all day?"

"Not really."

She found her mouth dropping open in shock. Had he _really_ just told her that. And so bluntly at that! Her cheeks puffed out in an irritated pout. "You're so mean." He did nothing more than shrug. "You honestly never think about me? Not even once? What if I'm off at school flirting with a bunch of hot upperclassmen?" That was a flat-out lie, and by the cocked eyebrow she knew he knew it, but there was always a chance! As one of the most popular girls in the school, he should have been more worried about his claim over her.

Shinjirou rolled his eyes before bending back down to pick up the clothes scattered across the floor. After retrieving his black shirt, he threw it at her and made a motion that told her she needed to put it on. Riichi grudgingly did as she was told. "I really doubt you'd be stupid enough to cheat," he told her. "But if I ever hear you're fooling around with some punk I'll kick the shit outta him before reminding you why you're going out with me in the first place."

This made her slightly happy. It was certainly progress on his part. When they had first started going out she couldn't threaten him into saying they were the 'd' word. Now that he was admitting to potential jealously, that had meant he had gotten pretty comfortable with the whole situation. It meant he was even more comfortable with her.

Riichi giggled slightly, which made him regard her with caution. When she didn't look the least bit apologetic Shinjirou straightened to his full height. "I'm serious Riichi," he said. "If I find out you're off with some guy I'm really gonna mess him up." She would have been able to take him a lot more seriously if he didn't currently have her underwear clutched in his right hand.

The girl tilted her head cutely and rested her chin on her knees. "I won't, I won't," she soothed. He didn't look reassured at all. "You think so little of me," she pouted with an dramatic sigh. "If I recall I'm the one that wants this more than you."

He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. After what might have been him preparing himself, he deposited her clothing on his desk chair and moved to sit beside her on the bed. "It's not that I don't want to know," he began, looking awkward in his own skin. "I just don't _need _to know." When this didn't seem to make any sense to her, Shinjirou sighed again before trying to explain. "What I mean is, school isn't exactly anything exciting or dangerous. I pretty much already know what you do all day, and I trust you enough to know that you won't do something stupid while I'm not around." When finished he refused to look her in the eyes.

Riichi had to take a moment to let this all soak in. She supposed it was a good reason, if he trusted her that was all the better as well. But just because she understood didn't mean it didn't bother her. In fact it almost felt as if he was trying to avoid the original question. She had really wanted to know what he did, not why he didn't care about what she did. (Not that it wasn't appreciated. She had to say it was nice to know his feelings on it for once.)

"I'm still curious," she muttered. She allowed herself to peek out the corner of her eye at his reaction.

Shinjirou just looked increasingly exhausted with the whole thing. "I don't really do anything," he told her. She wasn't buying it.

"You have to do something. Doing nothing means you sit here all day and wait for me to come home. Or is that really the case?"

"No stupid! I'm not some desperate moron."

"Then tell me!"

Riichi latched onto his arm and rested her chin on top of his shoulder. Her glare wasn't exactly menacing, so she couldn't blame Shinjirou's flat stare. But she was aggravated damn it, and as an angry woman -a girlfriend no less- she was damn well going to get her way! "Come o~on," she whined, knowing full well he hated it. "If you don't tell me I'm going to have to guess it's something really embarrassing."

Shinjirou paused and thought about it for a moment. "It's nothing really," he tried to tell her.

"Please…"

When he looked back over and came literally nose-to-nose with her peeking up at him from under her eyelashes, his expression told her she had won. With a long sigh he wearily lowered his head into his hand. "Promise you won't laugh."

Riichi bit her lip in excitement and nodded anxiously. It was about time he let her know something else about him.

"I…I practice, cooking."

The girl felt herself freeze. _That_ had been what he was so reluctant to say? He was embarrassed about _practicing_? Despite the fact that she had promised, Riichi found herself letting out a light snort. "You made it sound like it was a big deal," she dropped. She sagged in disappointment, but decided against relinquishing her hold on his arm.

Shinjirou scowled at her. "I'm practicing for _you, _you moron!" he snapped. This proclamation didn't exactly make her perk up, but she did a grand job of blushing like the moron he claimed her to be. "I'm not used to making desserts, I can't just whip something out of thin air!" His face went a light pink as he carried on, "The only reason I even started cooking that shit is because of you. I try to make you eat healthy, but damn it you always wear that smile whenever I make you cake or whatever pastry shit I'm doing."

Riichi hesitated as he let out a groan of frustration before focusing his gaze the other way. She gently clutched his arm closer to her chest, and leaned around him slightly in a failed attempt at getting him to return her gaze. "You mean," she started, her voice soft with her newfound shyness. "You really like my smile?"

He didn't really blush per se, as most people in his situation would do, but his cheeks did turn a slightly darker pink. "You got a problem with that?" he finally voiced.

The brunette couldn't help the childishly giddy smile that erupted on her face. "I'll smile all the time for you. I promise."

"Shut up, I knew I never should have said anything."

"Playing shy just makes you cuter you know."

"Stop saying moronic things!"

Riichi giggled and somehow managed to maneuver herself in his lap, curling her legs around his hips in order to keep herself from being shaken off. "Shinji," she sang, "I like it when you smile too. So can you do it?"

"No."

His immediate rejection was a given. She giggled despite herself and placed a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Stingy," she told him, still letting out sounds that one thought only grade school children were capable of. After slinging her arms over his shoulders and curling them around the back of his neck her smile lost some of it's teasing. "Can I skip with you tomorrow?"

Shinjirou paused before leveling her with an incredulous look. "Do you know what Mitsuru would do to you if she found out?" he finally settled on.

Riichi pursed her lips before shrugging. "She won't then," was her simple solution.

It was so moronic, and said with such confidence that Shinjirou found he really had nothing to say to it. So with a laughing roll of the eyes, he twisted his body so that she was thrown gently onto the bed with him hovering over her. "Just don't blame me when you get bored."

She merely laughed in response.

oOo

"I can't believe you were actually serious."

Shinjirou scoffed from his position in front of the stove, "You mean you thought I was lying?"

Riichi gave a delicate sniff and shrugged. "I thought you were trying to throw me off track," she admitted, not sounding sorry about her distrust in the least. Her legs dangled from her seat on top of the counter, knocking gently against the cabinet doors as she swung them.

"Get down from there would you," he finally ordered. "I cleaned last night, but I don't know what those guys might have done on there afterwards."

The girl pouted before slipping off and landing sock feet against the tiled floor. It took her a moment to contemplate on her next action, her gaze never leaving Shinjirou's form as he became engrossed in the recipe book next to his work station. Coming to a decision, she managed to wiggle her way in-between him and the counter, unsatisfied until she was positioned with her back to his chest.

"What are you doing?" came the confused and generally ruffled reply.

She merely 'hmmed' and poured over the book he had previously been so occupied by. "While I may not know much about making meals, when it comes to desserts I'm pretty good if I say so myself." She kept going back from his handiwork to the book, calculating where exactly in the recipe he was. "I think it's about time I teach you something, since I braved Mitsuru-senpai's wrath to spend my whole day with you." She sounded like she was trying to be cocky, but the lilting tone of her voice was evidence enough of how happy she really was.

Shinjirou merely rolled his eyes and smiled softly. He then leaned over, chest pressing against her small shoulder-blades, chin brushing the right side of the crown of her head, and attempted to continue from where he had left off.


	6. Betting

_I really don't have much to say except, I hope you enjoy this. I wrote it on a whim, and was pretty pleased with how it eventually turned out. It made me chuckle as I was writing it, so if it does the same for you then it's done its job. _

**Betting**

"Do you think Shinjirou-senpai ever gets embarrassed?"

The group of juniors all regarded the boy with confusion. Upon noticing the reaction he had elicited, Junpei shrugged and clicked his chopsticks. "What? You guys can't tell me you don't want to see it too."

Yukari lifted her shoulders in what might possibly have been a responding shrug (you never could be too sure with the girl) and shook her head. "Well, I'm curious yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Junpei snorted and shoved a wad of ramen into his mouth. "Nothing, just thought it was odd," he responded around a mouthful of food. The three girls regarded him with slight disgust.

"Well, Senpai doesn't really seem the type to get embarrassed over anything," Fuuka piped up. She looked up from her laptop for a moment in order to make eye contact with the others. "Then again, I could see him getting flustered over one of us dating. Like a doting elder brother who wants to protect his little sister." Her smile was so bright that the others didn't have the heart to laugh.

All except for Riichi, who couldn't help but give a light snort and look away, perhaps embarrassed herself. "I don't know about sister," she muttered. Junpei and Yukari each exchanged confused glances before shrugging it off. Fuuka didn't seem to have heard it.

"I really am curious though," Junpei continued. "I mean, what kind of guy doesn't get embarrassed over _anything_?" He stuck his chopsticks inside the ramen bowl and set it on the table, forsaking his food for the more interesting conversation. "Especially in an environment like this. It's just asking for an awkward situation."

Yukari, surprisingly, found herself nodding along with his logic. "I suppose I do have to agree," she conceded. "I kind of want to know myself. You two haven't ever seen him flustered either have you?" Fuuka shook her head seriously, and Riichi just gave a noncommittal grunt. Yukari seemed to interpret this in the negative.

Now that they had that out in the open, Junpei seemed to feel fine with throwing out his idea. "Let's make a bet," he announced, making the others eye him warily. Things rarely went well when bets and Junpei were involved together. "I say we each take turns trying to get a reaction out of him. You reckon something's gotta get to Senpai."

"What are we betting?"

Everyone's attention turned to Riichi, who looked both uninterested and extremely amused at the same time.

"Um, well," Junpei scratched the back of his head in thought. "How about the losers all have to allow the winner to copy their homework for a week."

Yukari snorted, "That only benefits you, you moron," at the same time that Fuuka squeaked, "But that's cheating!"

The boy sighed and rolled his eyes. "Killjoys," he murmured, before offering up another idea. "Then why don't we owe the winner 5000 yen each," he said. There was a moment of murmuring between the females before they all gave a collected nod. "Alright then," he exclaimed, face lighting up in his signature grin. "How 'bout I go first, and speak of the devil here he comes."

Sure enough, down the stairs and into the kitchen walked the boy they had all just been conversing about. Junpei stood up and moved to make his way towards his target. Since none of the girls tried to stop him it had been unanimously agreed that he should be the one to make the first attempt. Though the biggest reason for this was more for their personal safety than any real desire to see what the boy would do.

"Hey Senpai!" Junpei exclaimed. He seated himself across from the senior, who had just settled down at the wooden table after making his own bowl of ramen. Shinjirou, it was easy to see, looked rather unamused. Intent on his goal, Junpei didn't seem to notice and just grinned cheerily. "You know," he started, lowering his voice to where the girls had to strain to hear him. "I found this really good site the other day. It's got quite the cute ladies if you get my drift." Unseen to the girls, he waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "There's even a few maids. They all say 'Master' so cutely you know."

"Why the hell are you telling me this?" Shinjirou paused mid-bite to snarl this back at the boy. His expression was a mixture of disgust and irritation, and it was easy to note, he hadn't become embarrassed in the slightest.

Junpei laughed weakly and shot up from his seat. "N-no reason," he stammered. "Just talking to myself again!" and with that declaration he bolted back to the commons area.

Upon his arrival the girls all regarded him with a disgust that rivaled what Shinjirou had just given him.

"_That_ was your grand plan?" Yukari hissed. "God could you be any stupider? You're such a pervert." With an appalled shake of her head, the girl stood up. "My turn," she said, and with the irritated roll of her eyes and commanding tone none of them stood to challenge her on this.

Yukari approached the boy with a slightly cheerier demeanor than she had left the group. _Slightly. _Even with her back towards them the juniors could almost feel the irritation she seemed to radiate off her in waves. Shinjirou didn't seem to notice though, because he almost completely ignored her arrival.

"Senpai," she began, continuing when he grunted his attention. "One of my friends approached me today. She told me she had seen you around town a few times, and after awhile she found herself hoping to spot you." By now Yukari had lost her irate posture and if they didn't know better she looked as if she was remembering something fondly.

"Who knew Yuka-tan was an actress," Junpei whispered.

Riichi found herself clenching the arm of the couch tightly. "She better be acting," she hissed through ground teeth. The two others regarded her strangely, exchanging confused and slightly worried glances.

Their attention returned to the pair in the spotlight when Yukari spoke up again. "Well, she told me that she really wants to talk to you." She smiled sweetly and cocked her head, "She's a really sweet girl. Quiet too. Not to mention she seems head-over-heels for you."

Shinjirou merely regarded her with an arched eyebrow. "What do you want me to do about it?" he finally asked. The shock was evident on Yukari's face. "I already have one pain I have to deal with as it is, I don't need any more damn confessions."

The girl mumbled a quick apology before turning around and walking back on shaky legs. Yukari almost fell back into her seat before looking at the other three. "He said 'any more'," she whispered. "Does that mean he's already been confessed to?"

Junpei waved it away without a second thought. "Never mind that," he snipped, "What about that girl? Were you serious?"

Yukari looked confused for a split second before realizing what he was asking. "Oh you mean Tsuko? Yeah, actually. I thought it was weird at first too. I mean, I thought everyone at school thought he was terrifying." She just shrugged and shook her head, "Figured if I brought it up now it would be like killing two birds with one stone.

Fuuka smiled gently and closed her laptop to clasp her hands on top of it. "It was very sweet," she commented. "She must have a pure heart to be able to see Senpai's kindness so easily."

"I bet she's simply doing it to prove she can tame the big bad senior," Riichi snarled. Her look of utter resentment alarmed her classmates to the point of being speechless. "Falling in love after seeing him around town, ha! Disillusioned little brat."

"You don't even know her," Yukari managed to get out. "Riichi, what's gotten into you?"

The girl seemed to realize what had happened and deflated instantly. "Oh," she coughed, flushing and looking almost shameful. "I'm uh, I'm sorry. Um, well it's just, stories like that always get to me. I don't really believe in love-at-first-sight and all that." She giggled brightly, wearing such a cheerful smile it was almost blinding.

And the others didn't buy it for a minute.

Deciding it was probably easier to just let it go, Yukari motioned to Riichi. "Alright then, your turn."

The girl had the gall to look confused. "Oh no," she finally chirped, "I would prefer to go last."

Junpei opened his mouth to complain when Fuuka interrupted him. "It's okay, I'll go next." She gently set her computer on the coffee table before standing up, straightening out her skirt, and making her way over towards the, by now rather annoyed, senior.

Fuuka approached the boy far more timidly then when she had started out. Her fingers knotted together in front of her, and her face went several shades of red. "Um, uh, I," she stumbled over her words, and the others came to the conclusion that she was only going to succeeded in further embarrassing herself. "I, made you a cake Senpai," the girl finally managed out. "Um, would you like to, eat it together?"

More than anything else, Shinjirou looked panicked. "I'd rather not," he finally responded with.

She flinched a little, nodded lightly, and then walked back to the group. "I'm sorry," she finally managed out, when she had found herself comfortable. The girl looked particularly hurt right then, hunched over and biting her lip so hard it had to be painful.

"Why are you apologizing?" Yukari asked. She looked torn between finding this completely strange and trying to comfort the girl.

Junpei sighed and shook his head wearily. "Well, I guess you did manage to make him do something other than get mad." His gaze shot to Riichi and an almost desperate spark lit up in his eyes. "It's all on you now Reech," he concluded. "If you can't get to him, then it's official. Shinjirou-senpai is incapable of the human emotion shame."

The girl looked innocent for a few more moments, before her lips curled. "Ah ha, so it seems," she sang. To the others, she looked like the cat who had just eaten the canary. "Well, then, I'll say this now while I still have the chance. I want you guys to be ready to pay up at lunch tomorrow." She stood and all but skipped over and away from them.

"Hey don't get cocky just because you're last," Junpei snarled at her retreating form.

Yukari's expression fell into what could have been resignation, "Why do I feel like we just got played?" Fuuka looked up in interest, though was still particularly teary-eyed.

"So it's your turn now?" Shinjirou snorted as Riichi approached, not even bothering to look up at her. "What are you guys even doing anyway?"

The girl cocked her head as she pulled herself up to sit on the table in front of him. "Whatever are you talking about?" she asked, giving an elegant shrug of her shoulders. "Can't I just come over and sit next to my senpai?"

He took a moment to regard her with a skeptical eye before sighing and returning his attention back to his food. "You can beg all you want, but I hope you know it's not going to get you anything."

"How cruel of you," she teased, but otherwise made no other move. The group behind her was beginning to become antsy. She could hear them shuffle and fidget and strain to see what she would do next. Well, she wasn't going to disappoint.

"Hey Shinji."

The boy paused and looked up at her in confusion. Riichi took her chance and grabbed the lapels of his coat with both hands. She bent down almost as quickly as she pulled him foreword and her mouth crashed against his with such force that it almost hurt. But then she remembered herself and wasted no time in doing what she had approached him for.

It had probably been a good four minutes before she finally pulled away from the kiss. The girl licked her lips, watching as Shinjirou mimicked her, still too shocked and dazed to really know what he was doing. Her mouth curled into another smile and she grabbed the edge of his beanie to slowly pull it off. "Don't keep me waiting long, or I may feel neglected, ne?" She pressed the hat to her lips as she slid off the table and circled around him to reach the stairs. Riichi gave the group, who were now gaping silently, a meaningful look before ascending the stairs.

When Shinjirou finally regained his senses, he did a marvelous job of turning a bright red. "Sh-shit," he stammered as he shot up. "Every damn time!" He wheeled towards the staircase, completely forgetting about the audience who had just bore witness to the event. "By the time I'm done with you, you won't be able to walk for a week!" he snarled up the stairs, and none of them missed the responding laughter.

He disappeared, and after the slamming of what had to have been his door, all that was left was silence, and the shock that had just settled over the remaining teenagers.

"Did that really-" Junpei spluttered, voice shaking badly.

Yukari could only seem to manage out a whispered, "Oh my God."

Fuuka seemed too embarrassed to really do anything but blush like a fool and cover her face with her hands.

The silence was shattered when the front door opened and Akihiko entered the awkwardness that now called itself their dorm. "Sorry I'm late," he said as he made his way further in and approached the seating area. "Club ran late and then the guys forced me to eat out with them. Wouldn't listen when I told them I had something important to…..are you guys alright?"

The juniors all jumped and looked at him with dazed confusion. He regarded them warily, looking almost afraid of how odd they were acting.

"W-well, anyway. Have you guys seen Shinji? Some weird junior was asking me about meeting up with him."

An echoed moan from upstairs was all the response he got.


	7. Coffee

_In reviewing what I had written so far, I had come to the realization that I've never written anything with Ken in it. (Honestly Mitsuru hasn't really shown up here either, but she's at least been mentioned.) So this was thought up and produced as an attempt to give the poor boy the recognition he deserves. And well, I wanted an excuse to write about Shinji's softer side some more. Unfortunately in doing so I think I might have made Shinji slightly OoC. (To make myself feel a bit better about it, I attribute it to the fact that I haven't been feeling well as of late.) But in any case, I hope you like this one as much as you have the others. _

**Coffee**

"What are you drinking?"

The boy looked up from the mug clenched in both hands. His face flushed a light pink before he once again focused his gaze back down. "C-coffee," he stammered.

Riichi 'hmmed' in response and sat down opposite him at the table. She laced her fingers together, forming a bridge on which she rested her chin. "I didn't know you liked coffee Ken," she mused. "I didn't start drinking it until I was fifteen."

Ken once more raised his chin up to settle his gaze on the smiling girl. He chewed his lower lip for a moment in contemplation before finally deciding on something to say. "It's a very mature drink isn't it?" he commented, though his voice shook with embarrassment and uncertainty. "None of my classmates drink it, they all say it's for adults."

The girl nodded lightly, "I guess it is," she agreed.

Silence reigned for a few more moments. He was too uncomfortable to really come up with anything else. Riichi had picked up on this, but mercifully allowed him a few moments to attempt to collect himself. When she figured he had had enough time (And really, she wasn't going to let the poor boy sit there and splutter nervously all night. She wasn't cruel.) she spoke up once more. "Junpei said he was helping you with your homework earlier."

The boy gave a start, not having expected her to say anything else. He flushed a light pink and nodded his head lightly. "Well, yeah. If you can call it help," he muttered. "Junpei-san kept trying to teach me my algorithms wrong." Having found something he could talk about the boy lost all the shyness he had been exhibiting. "Riichi-san, is Junpei-san really that bad in school? I mean, what we're doing right now has some review from last year."

Riichi cocked an eyebrow and the corner of her lips curled up in amusement. "I'm surprised you even put up with him long enough to figure that out," she teased. "Yeah, Junpei's really that bad." Ken looked positively flabbergasted at the prospect of a high school boy being that inept at his studies. "There was one point in time when he had me help him with his homework. Honestly though it was more me constantly reminding him of what he was supposed to do and him erasing his work fifteen separate times." She chuckled at the memory, and Ken found himself flushing once more at her smile.

"You know I can help you, if you still need it."

The boy gave a light start and had to shake himself. "W-with what?" he stammered, caught between confusion and the desire to simply shout 'YES!' at the girl, no matter what it was she was suggesting.

She giggled and leaned foreword. Her index finger tapped lightly on the paper in front of him. "With your math," she explained. Riichi cocked her head and lifted her shoulders cutely. "Not to brag, but I'm at the top of my class. I'm sure I'd be more help then Junpei was."

Ken found no trouble in forming syllables; it was the words he couldn't mouth correctly and finally say. He sat there gaping like a fish, blown away yet again by the girl. "O-of cour-" he began, and was interrupted by the muffled thump of feet descending the stairs.

The two of them turned their heads to get a better look at the intruder. Shinjirou was the one who finally emerged around the corner. If he wasn't so alert, he would have looked as if he had just gotten out of bed. Donned in gray sweatpants and a black turtle-neck, he had all the signs of at least _going _to sleep in the near future. When he looked up to see them, he found himself pausing and cocking an eyebrow.

"Coffee?" Riichi asked, being the first one to break the silence. Ken was thankful for it, because he was almost afraid of what the older boy might have said, and _he_ certainly wasn't capable of doing it.

Shinjirou grunted and once more began to move. He waited until he was just behind Riichi before he stopped again. At first he seemed almost unsure of whether or not he was supposed to, but then he gave a light snort and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You're going to give Ken a heart attack if you keep getting in his face like that," he told her. He guided her gently back down into a proper seated position.

Riichi merely sniffed, though her expression was still all smiles. "I was not," she argued lightly. "I was going to help him with his homework."

The boy hmmed in response, but didn't seem to really be that impressed with her explanation. "You want a cup too right?" was the next thing he finally said. Apparently he had found it better to drop the subject.

A soft smile replaced the earlier one, and Riichi looked almost loving. "Of course," she answered, to which he couldn't help but give a small smile of his own before removing his hand and heading around the counter into the kitchen.

Ken watched this all with a queer sort of fascination. For some reason, he felt like he was watching something he shouldn't be. Something _adult._ This caused a rush of feeling to jolt through him and the boy visibly bristled. He wasn't sure if it was because of the reminder of the undeniable fact that they all thought him a child, or the streak of jealousy that he had long ago stopped trying to deny, but he chose that moment to speak up. "Could you help me Riichi-san?"

The girl whipped her head back to allow herself the ability to look at him. Her startled expression was quickly forsaken for a bright smile. "Of course," she chirped, "Let me see what it is you're doing." Riichi stood and practically bounced over to his side of the table. She pulled her chair along with her, depositing it on his right side at the edge of the table before gracefully throwing herself in it. "What is it you need help with?"

Shaken slightly by her immediate cooperation, it took Ken a few moments of sputtering before he could finally answer her. "Number twelve," he managed out.

"Oh, I remember doing these." Riichi scooted her chair closer and raised her arms to place them on the table. "For that you have to use this formula." Ken nodded and hastily set his mug down and picked up his pencil in order to follow along. "Make sure you don't skip this step. It's probably the one thing that most people miss. Stop me if I go to fast for you okay?" He nodded again, more preoccupied with keeping up with her directions than listening to anything else she had to say.

They sat like that for a short while. Her giving directions, him trying his best to follow them correctly. They were so engrossed in it that by the time Shinjirou set the deep red mug in front of Riichi, they had finished and rechecked five separate problems already.

The girl looked up and dazedly stared at the winking face of the bear printed on the mug. It took her a few moments to finally figure out what it was, and when she had she lit up. "Oh, thanks Senpai," she chirped, snatching at the mug and inspecting the contents.

"I made it the same way I always do," he assured her, taking a seat in the lone chair on the opposite side of the table. Shinjirou took a sip from his own mug, watching her from over the top of it. His eyes didn't leave her until she took a sip, to which he responded with a satisfied smirk.

The girl bit her lip giddily and held her mug close to her face with both hands. "Just right," she agreed, giving a small nod as if in agreement with herself.

Ken chewed his lower lip and glanced at his own mug. The contents, he knew, would be cold by now. A prospect that made him shiver and rethink going anywhere near it. Cold coffee, he had found out shortly after he started drinking it, was by far the worst thing he had ever tasted.

"Riichi-san, Aragaki-san knows how to make your coffee?" This was a thought that had come to him, but he hadn't thought he would voice. Something he was deeply regretting when Shinjirou arched an uninterested eyebrow, and Riichi merely looked confused.

The girl nodded, pulling the mug closer to her chin as if protecting it. "Of course," she stated matter-of-factly. "He makes it for me almost every night."

This left Ken pink and slightly flustered. Every night? Was that really a good idea? The boy didn't think that the senior would do something as horrifying as poisoning their happy-go-lucky leader, but he also didn't think the guy could be trusted. Master of the culinary arts or not, he was definitely a mixture of intimidating and downright terrifying. Both traits that normally didn't point towards 'trustworthy' material.

Shinjirou snorted and made a gesture towards the small boy. "You can stop glaring kid," he said. "The idea was hers."

Ken gave a start and blushed harder. He hadn't known he had been staring so hard. Was it really that obvious?

The girl merely giggled next to him. "Shinji, be nice to him. He's just concerned about me." She patted Ken on the shoulder, smiling brighter when he flushed yet again. "Maybe he has a right to worry, the first time you made me coffee I almost gagged."

The boy looked shocked for a moment before turning his glare on his elder. His anger dissipated into confusion when Shinjirou looked caught between being flustered and defensive. "It's your own damn fault for not specifying what you wanted. All you told me was to make you coffee and be careful to not make it too bitter."

"You know I like sweets," she countered accusingly.

"How was I supposed to know that included a heart-attack in a coffee mug?" was his snarled retort.

Once more Ken was lost. This was strange, and weird, and new. He had never seen Riichi look so happy, especially when arguing, and he had certainly never seen Shinjirou banter like this with anyone. Akihiko didn't count, especially because their conversations -what he'd heard of them anyway; he really wasn't around the two of them much- normally consisted of the boxer reminiscing and Shinjirou telling him to shut up and that he was a moronic fool. There hadn't been any noticeable barbs yet, and if he wasn't mistaken the chef was being much more gentle with his speech and mannerisms than he had ever seen him be.

Finally the senior sighed and shook his head. "Right, whatever you say. I swear, you're a piece of work," the last part was muttered, but still loud enough to be heard by the other two. Out of the corner of his eye, Ken saw Riichi smile softly. Shinjirou stood and held his hand out. "You done?" he asked, motioning towards the mug in the girls hands.

She shook her head, fingers tightening around it in what might have been an attempt to protect it. "Uh uh, thank you though." He gave a gruff snort and retracted his hand to move on into the kitchen. Riichi lowered her gaze to once more stare at the contents of the mug. She let out a small laugh through her nose and curled her shoulders up in content.

"Are you coming to bed?"

This question made both her and Ken look up in surprise. Riichi recovered far quicker than the boy, who could only sit and stare in shock, eyes wide as saucers. "Not yet. I promised I'd help, so I'm going to stay with Ken until he's done." She lowered the mug and placed it on the table. "So you're going up now?"

Shinjirou grunted an affirmative as he approached her. "Just don't keep him up too late," he told her. "It's almost eleven. And don't come up much later either. You're damn noisy when you're getting into bed."

Riichi merely smiled sweetly. "Yes, yes," was her reassurance. She lifted her arms up in expectance and wasn't satisfied until he sighed and leaned down into the embrace. There was a soft kiss (_Oh god, he really __**was**__ watching something he wasn't supposed to be!_) before she allowed Shinjirou to right himself. Though there really wasn't much righting happening, because she still had her arms curled around his neck, and it didn't look like she wanted anything to do with the idea of letting go.

"You're going to need to get another uniform," the senior finally voiced. He didn't really look like he wanted to be standing like that, but then again he didn't really look as if he _didn't _want to. "You wore your last clean one today. Would it kill you to do laundry once in a while?"

The girl giggled softly. "You sound like you're trying to be my mother," she teased, to which he curled his mouth into a snarl and muttered something about how no mother would do the things he did to her. (Ken wasn't exactly sure what to make of this either. Perhaps this was too much of an overload for one night.) "Could you get it for me?"

Shinjirou gave her a rather skeptical look. "You really want me going up on the girls' hall this late at night?"

She shrugged, "No one'll be awake to notice."

"They'll think I'm stealing your underwear."

"Then just tell them you're too shy to ask for 'em."

This suggestion was responded to by a snort and a roll of the eyes. "Fine, but this is the last time I'm doing something like this," he warned her. Riichi nodded her head again, though her expression said she knew full well he would always do anything for her. He hesitated slightly before pressing his mouth to her temple in what might have been a kiss. "If I'm asleep before you come up goodnight," was his parting words as she released him from her hold and watched as he disappeared upstairs.

For a few moments Riichi looked as content as he had ever seen her. Ken felt his chest constrict painfully, and found himself clearing his throat. The moment was shattered and the girl looked down at him in surprise. "S-s-so you two are," he ventured, picking up his pencil and focusing on his math in an attempt to keep his voice steady.

He didn't see the girl smile apologetically, nor did he see her raise her hand in an attempt to ruffle his hair before deciding against it and pulling it back. "Yes," she finally answered. "It's been almost a month now." They sat in another silence, another awkward one that left him choked up and wondering what he was supposed to do now. "Seventeen was another hard one wasn't it?" Riichi voiced softly, placing a finger on the paper to indicate which one she was talking about.

"Oh, yeah," Ken muttered, too startled to say anything else. They lapsed back into the previous routine of tutoring, and nothing more was said until he had reached the final problem.

"You know," Riichi interrupted his thought process. The boy looked up from the middle of the equation he was doing to show he was paying attention. "He likes you a lot."

"Who does?" he found himself asking before he could stop himself.

Riichi giggled lightly. "Shinji," she answered. When Ken looked both shocked and skeptical, she went on to prove her statement. "He wouldn't have been that affectionate if he didn't," the girl pointed out. "That he would allow you to see him that way means really trusts you quite a bit. He's really quite shy, especially when it comes to this kind of stuff."

The boy went from his lip to chewing his cheek. "You're probably wrong," he accused halfheartedly.

The girl shook her head softly. "I know him, quite a bit more than you think you do. Trust me, he really has a lot of faith in you." With that said she really did ruffle his hair this time, before standing up and walking over to the counter. The girl hoisted herself up over the granite countertop and reached an arm as far as she could stretch it to gently deposit her mug in the sink. "I'll get that tomorrow," she assured the boy when he cocked an eyebrow at her antics.

Now free of her possession, Riichi stretched her arms above her head before clasping her hands behind her back. "Well it's getting late, I'm going to go to bed. You should too mmkay. And if anyone asks why your homework looks so good, tell them your cute senpai helped you out."

Ken nodded gently, expression still downcast even with her attempt at lightening the mood. Riichi walked off, and he waited until he was sure she had reached the top of the stairs before he collected his papers, threw his own mug in the sink (if she could do it so could he) and climbed up the staircase himself.

oOo

"Did I wake you up?" the girl asked as she paused halfway through lifting up the covers.

The boy groaned and rolled over. "Hurry up will ya'. You're letting all the cold air in."

She chuckled softly as she did as she was told. Riichi pulled the sheets around them as she snuggled up against his back. "You're warm," she observed, lips brushing feathery letters against the fabric of his shirt.

"And you're cold," he grunted.

She couldn't suppress another chuckle. "I didn't know you liked Ken so much," she finally spoke up. She pressed her cheek to his shoulder blade and closed her eyes, relishing in how he felt.

Shinjirou took a moment to answer. In fact, he took so long that she had thought he might have fallen back asleep on her. "I owe him. And besides," he continued before she could ask any questions. "You really trust him."

Riichi felt herself pause. She finally allowed a soft smile to once more flutter across her lips. He never stopped finding ways to make her love him more. "Hey Shinji," she said. She didn't continue until he had shifted to show he was still listening. "Hold me?"

She felt the boy sigh, knowing full well he was smiling despite his feigned reluctance. "You're so demanding," he told her. Even with his jab she giddily waited while Shinjirou slowly turned to face her. His left arm snaked it's way under her neck while his right draped itself over the curve of her waist. "Now go to sleep," he ordered drowsily, burying his face into the crown of her head.

Riichi curled further into his chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing steady as he drifted back to sleep. "Yet you're so willing to make sure every one of them comes true," she whispered against his collar bone.


	8. PDA's

_I'm so glad I was able to get this out. It's been sitting on my hard drive in an almost finished state for about a month now. So I spent the past twenty minutes finishing, editing, rewriting, and then editing again. And joyously, here it is. So enjoy. _

**PDA's**

He really was getting better at them.

He didn't shake her off whenever she latched herself to his arm. There was no more scoffing at her attempts to sit on his lap. It was even noticed that he failed to argue with her whenever she attempted to kiss him in a potentially public area.

Shinjirou was certainly becoming quite comfortable with the famed public displays of affection.

Riichi had really noticed it when he had sought out her hand on his own. To further show his newfound comfort with the whole thing, they had been way out in the public eye, and he had grasped her hand so tightly she briefly wondered whether or not he was angry. (Of course he ruined the mood by telling her she was daydreaming too much, and that it would be just like her to get lost in a convenience store of all places. She had chosen to ignore this detail.) It wasn't really until the chef at Wakatsu commented on how lucky he was to have such a cute girlfriend that it really became apparent how natural this was all becoming to him. Shinjirou had merely smiled wryly and responded by telling him how much trouble she hid under that face of hers. Riichi had done a wonderful job of blushing and hadn't been able to form a coherent sentence until they had finally left the restaurant.

Now she was wondering if maybe she was unprepared for this. It wasn't that his sudden change of attitude was undesired, or really unappreciated. Really she thought it was about damn time her hard work and persistence paid off. It was just that compared to how shy (though he _certainly_ wouldn't attribute it to that emotion) he had been in the beginning, this was really a big step for him. To see the boy who had originally been sparse with affection when they were alone together brazenly hold her hand throughout the streets of downtown Iwatodai, it was almost too much for her.

Of course, when she had been able to finally get used to his newfound boldness, Riichi couldn't help but push for more. She had gotten so bad that he had kicked her out of his room a few nights ago and wouldn't let her back in until she had stood outside his door whining for forty minutes. And even then, he had probably only done it because he was afraid Akihiko, or even worse Junpei, would wake up and decide to see what the hell was going on outside.

While she had ultimately gotten her way, that particular event had made her back off slightly. It wasn't as if she _wanted _to be kicked out of bed and thrown outside at two in the morning. She had though, managed to persuade him into allowing her to sit on his lap in the common room. Riichi had felt it was a nice compromise, especially since until recently he hadn't wanted anything to do with such 'cuddly' stuff. It also probably had helped that everyone else was always quite late in getting home, and thus there was minimal chance that the two of them would ever be caught by anyone other than Koromaru.

Though she had to admit it was quite bothersome that the only one she was allowed to share her newfound happiness with was a dog. No matter how cute said dog was.

It was probably this ritualistic comfort that had allowed them to make a mistake. They had both fallen asleep with her curled in his lap, head tucked comfortably under his chin. Riichi had been the first to wake up, and she had been so content that her first move had been nothing more than groggily nuzzling closer into his warmth and pulling his coat further around them. She had had full intentions of falling back asleep, and had it not been for the shuffling and nervous mutterings she might very well had done just that. But as it was, her curiosity was piqued, and the girl had went against her better judgment to crack open an eye and see just what was the matter.

Her eyes had shot open in unveiled shock when she was forced into the realization that they were being watched. By no less than three sets of eyes. Possibly more.

The first one to enter her field of vision was Ken, who was seated in the opposite couch and, _glaring?_, at the two of them. Red flags already blazing, she shifted her gaze to the right and focused on Akihiko's wide-eyes and general confusion. Behind him in the opening that formed their dining room, all three of her fellow juniors were gaping, and Junpei especially looked terrified for her life. Craning her neck further right, she was granted the knowledge of Aigis seated on the couch right next to them, looking slightly confused at their position but otherwise unaffected. To the left, Mitsuru, who actually looked as if she couldn't really care less and didn't seem to be paying any attention whatsoever to them.

At that moment all the girl could think of was the threat of being locked out of her senpai's room for the next week and a half. She had full intentions of bolting up right then, giggling like a lunatic, and weaving an intricate lie that would explain away the odd behavior the two of them were exhibiting right then. Riichi shifted, uncurling her hands from his shirt, untucking her head from it's hiding place in the curve of his neck, and attempting to slip out from inside his coat and out of his arms.

But then she felt his grip tighten, and what little attempt at resistance she gave was batted away without much effort. "Stop moving," Shinjirou mumbled. "It's damn cold." As if asserting how stupid this attempt of hers was, he pulled her right back up where she had started, and wrapped his coat more firmly around them.

Before the thought that this was rather uncharacteristic of him -other than his language choice that was- she couldn't get over the fact of how unbelievably happy this made her. Instead of trying to forcibly pry herself away, Riichi did as he suggested, snuggled closer, and didn't move. This was a big step, she thought to herself, ignoring the voice in the back of her mind that was reminding her the only reason he had said that was because he was still technically asleep. This was a _huge _step.

Riichi allowed her giddy smile to surface, and told herself that no matter how flustered he got when he finally did wake up to find them in this position with the whole of the dorm staring at them in shock, he couldn't blame her. After all, he had told her not to move, and honestly who was she to go against something he wanted?

Yes, Shinjirou was definitely getting better at this.


	9. Family

_I don't know where I came up with this, or why when I did I actually wrote it out. But it might be attributed to the fact that I really wanted to write crack. I have succeeded in doing just that. So I'm going to apologize now for this ficlet, because in all honesty it's contents are in no way to be taken seriously. But I had fun with it, so I suppose that's all that really matters. _

_To __**Mista**__ who had a request. I am actually getting on that shortly. I can't say how long it'll take to get out though, and I might finish some other things before it. So patience?_

**Family**

He was at a table. He wasn't exactly sure _why_ he was at such table, but he was sitting at it alright. Shinjirou stared down at the offending piece of furniture and tried to reason out where he was. This definitely wasn't the dorm. For one their table was much bigger, and two their floor didn't consist of mahogany floorboards. No, if he wasn't mistaken this looked like someone's kitchen/dining room. But that wasn't possible.

"Dear, how was your day?"

Shinjirou's head snapped up and he was granted the image of a longer haired brunette, clad in a pink apron that reached just below her knees. Smiling red eyes greeted him, along with a ladle that was stained in what might have been curry. But wait, what had she said before?

"Dear?"

The woman giggled. "Yes silly, that's you." She turned back towards the stove and stirred the big metal pot seated on the burners. She began humming cheerfully, and even from the back he could tell she was in ridiculously high spirits. But that song. It was so familiar, he just needed to put his finger on it. She paused, blew on her ladle, tasted the whateveritwas, and then began again. As soon as she started back up it came to him. But there was no way. It couldn't possibly be…

"Rii?" he tested.

She twirled around and beamed at him. "Yes love?" was her chirped response. At that moment Shinjirou wasn't sure whether to be happy he had gotten it right, or dismayed that his accuracy had just made things a hell of a lot more confusing.

He expressed this by a very classy, "You have got to be shitting me."

Older Riichi looked slightly confused before she glared down at him in displeasure. "Didn't we go over this before? You really do need to work on your social skills. That's why you and Aki fight all the time." When had she started calling him _Aki_? Shinjirou bypassed this question to wonder why it made him so damn angry. "And really, could you not use such language in front of Kouta? He's going to pick up bad things." She motioned the ladle to the opposite end of the table, and Shinjirou turned his neck in order to gaze at the perceived six-year old he hadn't previously realized was sitting there.

The boy was glaring up at him with vibrant red eyes. His dark brown hair was shaggy and looked in serious need of brushing, and the tuft of bangs that were covering his left eye wasn't helping the matter at all. The only good thing about the kid was his clothing, since he seemed to have enough sense to dress himself in dark colors that actually matched. Or maybe he had someone dress him, but whatever the case it looked halfway decent.

Shinjirou tore his gaze away from the boy with the disturbingly familiar face and settled it back on Riichi. "Who's the kid?" he asked.

She seemed to have gotten over her earlier tiff because she just laughed and shook her head. "Shinji, you hid your sense of humor quite well all these years." He didn't get it. "Mmkay, I'll play along. Kouta you will too won't you sweetie?"

The boy grunted, glared harder, and tore his gaze away from the older boy. "Not nice," he growled.

Riichi just laughed again and clucked her tongue. "Oh I'm sorry, darling, did it hurt your feelings?" she cooed. "Sorry love, but I guess we're done joking around."

Shinjirou felt like he was being talked to like a two year old. "No," he stopped her. "Seriously, who's the kid?"

Riichi glanced back at him, eyebrow cocked in amusement. "That kid," she explained, "is your son dear."

He paled. Son? What the fuck was she even talking about? "Riichi, are you high?" She gave him a look that clearly screamed how offended she was. In normal circumstances, he would have done the smart thing and just dropped the topic altogether. But this wasn't exactly 'normal' by any means, and no amount of anger at him was going to make him relent. "How to do expect me to believe that I have a kid? That _we _have a kid." He was assuming the brat was hers too. Honestly she was probably the only girl on the planet that would ever be able to weasel her way in the way she had. (And to tell the truth, though he wouldn't even admit it to himself, she was the only girl he even really wanted to try.)

She puffed her cheeks out in a pout. "Was the stress of those nine months enough to make you forgot it?" she sulked. "Well then fine, no dinner for you." Riichi sniffed elegantly and ladled out the contents of the pot into a bowl. She threw the utensil back into the pot and swerved over to deliver it to the boy. He gave a shy smile before shooting a dark glare over at his supposed father. If the girl saw it she didn't make any indication of it.

The kid, or Kouta as he was apparently known by, dug into the meal without mercy. Riichi sighed, gave the back of his head a hard rap. "You need to learn to enjoy your food," she scolded. "Don't you feel bad for shoveling it in like that?" Shinjirou was surprised to note that he had been the one to teach her that.

"S-sorry," Kouta stuttered. His gaze lowered and he resumed eating, much slower this time.

Riichi gave a curt nod, and patted his head once more in approval. She glanced towards Shinjirou, contemplated something for a moment, and then turned on her heel in a huff. It was all the boy could do not to snort and tell her how stupid she was being. "So," she started, sounding much more snippity then she really needed to be. "Aki called earlier. He said that you two were supposed to meet up today and that you skipped out." He could hear the disapproval. "Really Shinji, if you had told me I would have taken over for you today. I'm not _that _untrustworthy am I?"

What was she talking about? Shinjirou was seriously stating to get a headache. This felt so incredibly wrong, but at the same time the whole situation was beginning to make sense. Even if he couldn't remember anything that they were claiming.

Apparently his silence was taken as the confusion it was. "Love." He looked up to see Riichi set herself down in front of him. "Are you feeling okay? I know running a restaurant is stressful, but if it's causing you this much stress than maybe we should close for a couple of days. So you can rest."

So he ran a restaurant? Now _there _was a sliver of possibility in this messed up situation.

"I'm fine?" he finally spoke up, knowing that if he stayed quiet any longer she really would start to worry.

She pursed her lips and scrutinized him sharply. Riichi opened her mouth, closed it in thought, and then tried to open it again. Before she could say anything there was a clattering of dishes. Both of them looked over and into the glaring eyes of their son. "I'm finished," the boy professed, as if it wasn't already obvious.

Riichi nodded once, and lifted herself from the table. She ruffled his hair and picked up his dishes to carry to the sink. "You ate all of it right?" she asked, checking the bowl in the process. "I'm proud of you." He beamed in delight. "Now if you would only eat the stuff your father cooks." And the smile was gone.

"Dun wanna," he sulked.

Wait a minute. What the hell was wrong with his food? Shinjirou shot his gaze back over and found himself immediately engaged in a glaring match with the boy.

Riichi clucked her tongue in displeasure. "Now now. Your father makes great food. You're a big boy right, and big boys eat everything." Kouta bit his lip, lowered his gaze, sulked harder. "Now it's time for you to get ready for bed."

"But momma!" he whined.

She silenced all his protests with one glance. "No buts," she snipped. "We ate dinner late, so there's no games tonight. Go brush your teeth and get to bed. I'll be up in a minute to make sure you're ready."

Riichi made her way over and fussed about him. She took his napkin off the table and made sure to cover every inch of his face for anything he might have missed himself. The boy struggled vainly and finally gave in when she gave him another light rap to the back of the head. After she had inspected him and assured that he was to her liking, she gave him a quick kiss to the crown of his head and attempted to shoo him away. Instead, Kouta merely wrapped his tiny arms around her and held fast. Riichi looked mildly surprised, but hugged him back despite herself.

"I love you more," he barked into the fabric of her skirt. (The apron she had shed a while ago.)

"More than what sweetie?" she asked, humoring the boy.

Kouta unburied his face in order to glare dangerously at his 'father'. "I love you more than dad does."

Shinjirou didn't take to this too kindly. "What the hell you little punk!" he snarled as he shot up.

Riichi glared at him first, snapping a short "Language!" before she returned her attention to their son. "Now honey, you and daddy love me equally, and I love you two the same."

The boy shook his head wildly. "That's not true. He doesn't love you at all."

"Are you trying to start something?" Perhaps it was the fact that he didn't remember anything at all about this kid that attributed to his lack of paternal instincts, but all Shinjirou knew was at that moment he wanted to throttle the brat.

"What makes you say that?" Was that laughter? Was she finding this _funny_?

"Well," he started, shooting another glare Shinjirou's way. "Everyone at school says their parents always tell each other 'I love you'. Dad never says that to you. He doesn't even say 'I like you'." Were they in kindergarten? Oh, right the kid probably was. "And he's always calling you moron, which is something you call people you don't like. He's always grumpy, he doesn't smile, and all the other kids think he's scary." So this was all because he was scary? "And-and he makes you cry at night."

Everything went silent. Shinjirou felt his face go pale again, and watched as Riichi's did the same. Kouta, who was looking particularly confused now, could only look back and forth between them. "Kouta," Riichi coughed, gently pushing him away from her and setting his hands comfortingly on his shoulders. "When did you hear this?"

The boy sputtered lightly, confusion still his dominate emotion. "L-last night. Actually almost every time I go to your room. I wanted a glass of water and can't reach the tap by myself."

Riichi's face flamed at once, even as she shot her glare at Shinjirou. It was all he could do to not choke on his own saliva. "Honey," Riichi continued, her tone a tad tighter than it had been. "I'm fine. There's no need for you to worry. Daddy and I love each other very much, I assure you." Kouta still looked unconvinced. "Now upstairs. Don't think by doing this you're getting out of going to bed now." The small boy sulked wonderfully as he peeled away from her and dragged himself up the stairs.

Riichi watched him go with a strict eye before she allowed herself to deflate.

"Cute kid," Shinjirou found himself snorting sarcastically.

She shot him a look before deciding it wasn't worth it and sitting herself back down. "He takes after you," she snipped, to which he responded by looking particularly offended. "So, you can't remember anything?" Her sudden change of subject left him confused and he was only able to regain his bearings when she stood up and walked around the table to gently ease him back down in his seat. "Well then, I suppose I'll have to help you remember."

Shinjirou leaned back in his chair and covered his face with his left hand. This was really beginning to exhaust him. "Yeah, you are, because I have no damn idea what's going on."

Riichi sighed again and shook her head in exhaustion. "Well, let's start out by listing what you do know. What is it you do know?"

"My name is Shinjirou Aragaki."

"Yes a name is always a better thing to remember. How about mine?"

"Riichi Arisa-" She clucked her tongue disapprovingly. "Riichi Aragaki?" An approving nod.

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen." Another cluck. "Twenty?"

"Starts with two, ends in nine."

"Shit I'm really that old?"

"I'm twenty-eight thank you! Does that mean _I'm _old too!" He chose to not answer that one. "Who's your best friend?" Did she have to sound that angry?

"Aki."

"Who are we helping through college?"

"It better not be Junpei or so help me-"

"No! Junpei didn't even go to college! It's Ken!"

"…Ken?"

"Yes Ken. He visits at least two weekends a month. Which is really unnecessary because he should be going out with his school friends."

"And he's comfortable being here? Around me?"

"Shinji, stop making yourself out to be a pariah. He's perfectly happy here."

"Ow! Damnit Riichi shouldn't you have grown out of this hitting shit by now?"

"You want me to smack you again?"

"Whatever."

"That's what I thought, now how about what you do?"

"As in a job? I… apparently run a restaurant."

"Yes you do. And your family?"

"I'm married to you."

"Uh huh."

"And I….have a son named Kouta."

"You have a son named Kouta. Who you love very much, even though he took after you and so is hard to handle."

"If we're talking about hard to handle wouldn't he have taken after you? Ow, damnit!"

Riichi glowered and stood up. "You seem fine enough to me," she sniffed as she made her way back over to the stove. Shinjirou couldn't help rolling his eyes. Even eleven years later she was still one piece of work.

Maybe this wasn't so bad. Sure he couldn't remember _anything_ about the last eleven years of his life; even though they were obviously important if him being married was any indication. But you know, it didn't really matter that much. He still knew enough to be able to piece things together eventually, and by the looks of it things really hadn't changed that much.

There was a feminine yelp, and Riichi's hand flew backwards. He sighed and stood up, maneuvering around the table and finishing his short trek at her back. "Let me see it," he grunted. Riichi bit her lip and pouted, but did as she was told. After a short inspection Shinjirou allowed her her burned hand back and gestured towards the sink. "It'll be fine if you put it under water for a minute. Let me do this."

Her pout increased and though she turned around to fully face him, she made no move to do as told. "It's my turn tonight. Just let me do it." When he gave her a disapproving look she sniffed. "It's every wife's dream to cook for her husband. It's already hard enough that you cook better than me, at least let me make you pretend you like it for once."

Shinjirou had to sigh again. "I don't pretend," he assured her tiredly. "Now go put that under water."

Still ignoring his demands, she bit her lip and then looked up at him with large eyes. "Hey Shinji," she called. He grunted his affirmation of having heard her. "You know I love you right?"

"Mm hmm."

"And you love me too right?"

"Yeah." He wasn't listening anymore. He was too engrossed with trying to shut off the stove, clear the pot away, and prevent his adoring wife (God that was such a strange thing to refer to her as.) from hurting herself anymore, all the while hugging said wife in the process. This would be so much easier if Riichi hadn't retained her habit of always placing herself in his arms, and subsequently in his way.

If anything her gaze only got more pleading. "And you really, really love Kouta too. Even though you two have your differences."

"Yeah, sure." Was there a point to her rambling? He really needed full concentration if he was going to do this all flawlessly.

She swallowed hard and he could feel her hands clutch into the fabric of his shirt. "Hey Shinji, Shinji can you look at me." Shinjirou paused, thought about it, weighed the pros and cons, and then gave up and relinquished all thoughts of getting anything done to pay full attention to her. "Um, I went to the doctor yesterday. And um, he had some things to say."

Oh no. This was _not _going where he thought it was. Please God no.

"Shinji, I think I might be pregnant again."

His face fell. All the energy he had left drained out of him. Shinjirou found himself leaning foreword and resting his head on her shoulder. "Shinji? Are you alright."

"Give me a moment," he grunted. He needed time to take this in. This was all too much for him right now, especially after having just figured out he was already a father.

"What's wrong? You're going to need to get up." No he damn well didn't. She was going to have to deal with it for dropping this on him. "Shinji you're going to push me off the bed, get up." What the hell was she talking about? "Shinjirou. Shinjirou-senpai, wake up please. Shinji wake up."

Shinjirou's eyes snapped open. He stared at the wall, colors dull in the inky blackness of the night. Where was he? In bed? But he had just been…. He felt his whole body shudder at the memory of it, and was instantly grateful when it all dawned on him.

So it had all been a dream. A surreal yet frighteningly sane dream, but a dream. The thing that made it all the worse for him was that it had a great possibility of actually becoming reality one day. This thought made him shudder again. He was _not _going to think about children right now. What would ever possess Riichi into thinking he would make a decent father anyway? That was like giving a kid a rock for Christmas and telling him it would be the last present he'd get for years.

"Shinjirou, are you okay? You were moaning in your sleep."

He twisted and stared up at the worried face of Riichi. Seeing her hair down like that reminded him again of the dream and he fought the urge to order her to throw it back up. (It would only make her confused and mad, especially because he had already told her once he much preferred it down.) "I think so," he muttered. He would have been more sure of himself if he wasn't still reeling from the shock the whole damn thing had put him through.

She didn't look convinced for a few minutes, but decided to mercifully let it go. "Can you move over then? You rolled a few times and you're going to push me off."

Shinjirou stared at her for a few moments, before grunting and turning back to face the wall. "Go sleep in your own damn bed if it's too small for you," he snorted. "I'm not forcing you to sleep here."

He could feel her bristle behind him. "But it's lonely up there. You can't expect me to sleep all alone now."

"I'm not moving," he assured her. All he wanted to do now was get back to sleep. Hopefully this time he wouldn't be bothered by strange, ridiculous dreams.

"Jerk."

"Moron."

She smacked him on the shoulder. "Fine then," she bit, ignoring his irritated exclamation. Riichi slipped out from under the covers and he thought he would finally get some peace before he felt her get back in the bed. She climbed over him, making sure to dig one of her knees especially hard into his ribcage, before flopping over on the other side of him and burrowing back under the covers. "I hope you fall out," she snipped, turning away from him to face the wall.

"Was that really necessary?"

Other than a girlish sniff, he received no response.

Well, fine, if she wanted to be that way. Shinjirou turned away himself and attempted to fall back asleep. Damnit he was really tired now, and none of this was helping him.

"Hey Shinji."

He could feel her smirk as she twisted and pressed herself against his back. "What?" was his mumbled reply.

"So we're going to have a son named Kouta?"

He felt the blood drain out of his face, even as she giggled delightedly behind him.


	10. Jelousy

_This is long overdue, I know. And I apologize profusely for it. But I lead a busy life, I swear. Anyway, I really wanted to write Theo - he's just such a loveable guy in his quirky way - and I saw a perfect chance to make Shinji jealous again, however underplayed I ended up making it. So this was born. With that said, enjoy!_

**Jealousy**

If he had been anyone else, the scene in front of him would have produced a much greater reaction. He would have stormed out there, snatched her away, and then beat the guy senseless. If he were anyone else, the sight of the man who currently had his girlfriend's hand clutched in his own would have made his mind go completely blank with rage. But as it stood, he wasn't anyone else, he was Shinjirou Aragaki.

In complete contradiction to his character, all Shinjirou could do at that moment, was stare dumbly at what was in front of him. Riichi was wearing that blindingly bright smile, and looked as if she was the happiest person in the world at the moment. The man who was gripping her hand was clothed all in blue, with his silver hair slicked back - looking far too 'proper' to be gallivanting around a shrine - and was gazing around in wonder.

When he was finally able to get over his shock, Shinjirou found himself gritting his teeth and stalking up to them - against his better judgment of course. "Oi, Rii," he called, thankful that his tone was as laidback and unconcerned as it usually was. If he sounded how he felt he would never be able to live it down.

Riichi's head swiveled and she looked confused for a split second. That second passed in favor of allowing a truly radiant smile to surface. "Shinjirou-senpai!" she called. Her free arm lifted to wave energetically. Her other hand, much to his chagrin, continued to stay linked with the strange man's.

The man turned to acknowledge him as well. His eyes narrowed for a moment, and for that moment Shinjirou was under the impression he was sizing him up. A short nod followed and the man mirrored Riichi by smiling brightly. "Ah, you must be the one who wields the ax. Judging from your build, you are also probably the one who carried her after she twisted her ankle the other day. Master Riichi has spoken much of you Shinjirou Aragaki." He bowed his head slightly, "Pleased to meet you. I am Theodore."

This certainly threw Shinjirou. He sputtered lightly and found himself looking to Riichi for either help or an explanation; he wasn't quite sure anymore. Riichi looked more amused than intent on helping. "What about an ax?" He did use one yes, but this guy shouldn't know that.

Mr. Proper finally relinquished hold of Riichi's hand, and used it to instead flip open the ridiculously large book he was holding. "Shinjirou Aragaki; male; age nineteen; birthday August eleventh; height 177 cm; blood type A." He licked his finger professionally and turned the page. "You use heavy weapons in battle, your current favorite is the Corpse Rod. You once were forced to fight with a bus stop sign; you did surprisingly well for using such an unreliable weapon. Your persona is Castor; arcana Hierophant; physically oriented. He has no weaknesses, but this is balanced out by his lack of any strengths." He looked up and focused smiling eyes on the now pale boy. "Is there anything I have missed?"

Riichi, upon seeing his expression, decided now was the time to come to Shinjirou's aid. "I think that was a bit too thorough Theo," she giggled. "How did you get all that info anyway?"

Theo, as he was now known as (and it was much less of a mouthful than Theo_dore_ Shinjirou thought) smiled down at her. "I keep my data on all your teammates updated frequently. A simple perusal of their battle statistics is all I need to gain quite a bit of information. As for everything else, it is amazing what looking through public records can do." He nodded, a smile that clearly showed how pleased he was dominating his features. "I am fully confidant in the validity and entirety of my data."

The girl gasped delightedly. "Oh, do you have anything else on him then?" Her eyes sparkled as she bounced over to his side to get a better peek at his book. "It's so hard to get him to tell me anything. Did you know he told me last night I was never going to know his favorite food? What's so wrong about learning what your boyfriend likes to eat?"

The man closed the book carefully and looked almost distressed. "Unfortunately I do not have anything in way of that. Since the compendium is typically only for your personas, there is not much room to record anything else. I only keep what might be deemed necessary." He paused and looked deep in thought for a moment before addressing the tail end of her previous rant. "So one wishes to know that kind of stuff about their significant other?" and at the mention of that, Shinjirou choked on his own saliva. "Human interaction is truly an interesting thing."

The boy suddenly felt drained. "I think I need to sit down." Riichi giggled again and floated over to latch onto his arm.

"Alright Senpai," she chirped. "Theo, I'm going to stay with him for a while."

Theo nodded and smiled sweetly. "That is fine. I shall traverse this 'playground' until you are ready to leave." He wandered off towards the jungle gym, looking mystified and excited.

Shinjirou allowed himself to be gently led to the nearby bench and almost fell down into a seated position on top of it. Riichi positioned herself next to him, her knee flush against his, their ankles linked tightly, and his hand clutched gently in hers. When they had been settled for a while, the boy finally found his voice.

"Who is he?"

Riichi glanced up at him, head cocked innocently. "He's just a friend," she consoled.

The boy snorted. "Bullshit. He knows too much about personas and my personal shit to be 'just a friend'." He shot a glare down at the girl, who pointedly ignored it in order to focus on a passing cat.

"You worry too much," she cooed, when it was apparent he wasn't going to move on. "I'll admit that if it weren't for him, we'd probably be in a lot of trouble in Tartarus, but he really is simply a good friend." Shinjirou opened his mouth to argue the absurdity of having someone apart from them know about Tartarus, and was promptly beaten when the girl threw out her next statement.

"Well senpai, it's nice to know that even _you _get jealous."

Whatever words he had been about to yell were silenced. Instead, Shinjirou found himself staring at her with unveiled horror. Riichi mercifully allowed him time to gape like an idiot - in which she shamelessly spent waving cheerfully at Theo.

When he had finally found his voice, he rounded on her fiercely. "No one said anything about jealousy," he seethed. "What I want to know, is why some strange guy knows about Tartarus."

The girl waved his anger away without so much as a thought. "I suppose it would be like you to deny it," she pouted, to which he growled obscenities about stupidity. "But I didn't mean anything bad by it. In fact I'm rather flattered."

He had calmed down by now, having come to the conclusion that not only was getting worked up like this completely against his character, but it was exactly what she wanted. "Are you?" he deadpanned. It was obvious that she wasn't going to tell him, so he figured he'd drop the subject until a later time.

Riichi nodded slyly. "Of course," she chirped. "I was beginning to think you were only interested in my body." Shinjirou choked again and spent the next few minutes trying to calm himself back down. "Being serious though-" he wondered if she really knew what serious was "-it's good to know that you don't want to lose me."

That sentence was enough to make him sober. Shinjirou looked down at her, searching for any teasing smiles or mischievous glances. When she continued to look sincerely content, he figured he could believe her. Finding nothing else come to mind, he snorted and had to look the other way. "And to think I'm the one who's supposed to be dumb with relationships."

The girl looked shocked. "That's mean!" she whined, leaning angrily into his face. "I was really being serious!"

He set a large hand on her head and ruffled her hair at the same time as he pushed her away. "Would you quiet down. You're disturbing people."

Riichi did as she was told but not without pouting and refusing to look at him. "There's no one else here," she muttered darkly. Shinjirou couldn't stop the small chuckle from escaping his lips. She snuck a few dark glances his way, obviously not pleased with this reaction.

"If I was planning on letting you be stolen, I would have never allowed you to get so close."

Riichi blushed beautifully. She opened her mouth slightly in shock, before closing it once she realized she was unable to say anything. If he had known saying something like that would shut her up he would have done this more often. (Then again once she got used to it she would expect it, and that would be a whole new nightmare to deal with.)

"Well," the boy picked himself up and turned to face her. "I'm heading back to the dorm. Don't come home too late alright." (He would be more concerned about leaving her with this Theo guy, but the sight of the man trying vainly to balance on top of the monkey bars had pretty much eased any worries he had.)

Riichi gasped and flailed desperately in order to stand up herself and grasp onto his left arm. "Wait!" she called as she tugged on him. Shinjirou sighed in exhaustion but nevertheless did as he was told. "Um, when I get home, could we maybe, well, you know," she fidgeted, biting her lip and refusing to look any higher than her shoes. "Could we um, cook dinner together?"

Shinjirou felt an eyebrow raise. It was certainly rare to see Riichi acting shy, and even rarer for her to really mean it. But this side of her was pretty hard to resist, and the boy found himself smiling. "Yeah," he told her, giving the arm she had a hold on a shake in order to make sure she was listening. "But I'm the only one cooking. The last time you tried to help you got so excited you were putting double ingredients in."

The girl scowled up at him. "So I forgot I had already put the sugar in, big deal. I'm still a good cook." Despite her attempt to be menacing, she was holding back a brilliant smile. When she was unable to hold the charade up anymore, Riichi giggled and clutched herself closer to him. "Thank you," she whispered. Shinjirou grunted in response and wondered when she was going to let go.

She allowed her smile to curl mischievously, and Riichi called softly, "Senpai?" Shinjirou, having lost his guard, looked down in expectance. Riichi raised herself on tiptoes, and pressed her mouth neatly against his. "I love you," she chirped, when she broke away from her kiss. Giggling madly she raised herself up again for another.

Shinjirou pulled his head back quickly. "Damnit Riichi, there are people watching us!" he snarled. The girl merely laughed harder. "We're in public-would you stop!" He wrestled with the girl, managing to untangle themselves and gain a few feet of personal space.

Riichi 'booed' and rocked back on her heels. "You're so cold Shinji," she teased. He glared at her, cheeks tinged a light pink in exertion and embarrassment. "I'm going to take Theo back. I'll head right back to the dorm afterwards, so wait for me okay." With this she gave a short wave and turned to go collect the other man.

Shinjirou watched her call him down from the monkey bars and then proceeded to lead him to the entrance of the shrine. The girl paused, seemed to remember something, and then turned to once more address him. "Oh yes," she began. "Since I find it rather cute I'll tell you something so that you'll always remember you don't want to let me go. My best friend is, and forever will be, a boy in striped pajamas." Shinjirou wasn't exactly sure how to feel about this piece of information. While he was trying to figure out whether or not she was baiting him, Riichi continued. "But if it's any consolation, you're the only person I've ever been in love with." He looked up in surprise, only to see her wave once more and begin walking away. "And don't you dare start without me!" she called back as she disappeared down the steps.

The boy stood there for a moment, soaking all of this in. Finally he sighed, scratched the back of his neck in exhaustion, and headed off for the dorm. A small part of him wanted to meet this boy, but the other - and much more demanding - part was telling him to just leave it alone. Any friend of Riichi's was bound to be more trouble than they were worth. (Junpei and that Theo guy were both prime examples.)

But even though he reminded himself that it didn't bother him in the slightest, when he reached the dorm he found himself getting out the ingredients for her favorite meal and grumbling about how friends were too 'friendly' these days.


	11. Spying

_I would have gotten this out a lot sooner, but my APUS class did this project in which we like, swore off almost all forms of technology for a week. So that meant I was out a computer. And let me tell ya, it was the most boring experience I have ever had, especially since we started Friday, and then had five consecutive snow days after the weekend. But enough of my bitchin'. This could be considered a sequel to __**Stalking**__, which is mostly because I love writing half of SEES trying to play detective. I'm going to apologize now for any mistakes. I finished this at three in the morning, reread it twice, and couldn't be bothered further. I'm also going to take this chance to thank the reviewers, since I haven't done that recently. (I'm terrible, I know.) I love you guys, like seriously. You're the cheese to mah macaroni. If I could hug you all, I would. _

_As for the question if I would do something with Ryouji. Mmm, I'm not sure yet, have been pondering that. I do have an idea for one with him as Pharos though, so that might come in the near future._

_Now after this ridiculously long blurb, enjoy. _

**Spying**

"Operation Chef-"

"Junpei don't you _dare_ start up with that again."

The boy snorted but nonetheless shut his mouth

"What do you think they're talking about?"

"Well maybe we would know if you all would shut up!"

Ever since the failure of their attempt to tail the two through the grocery store, the mystery surrounding Shinjirou and Riichi had only escalated. At first the group had decided to abandon their mission, but as time wore on the actions of the two had become far too unusual for them to deny their curiosity any longer. So after some serious speculation, a lot of convincing, and a quick argument, Junpei, Yukari, Akihiko, and Fuuka (who had pretty much been pulled in against her will) found themselves eavesdropping. Hunched on the last floor of the staircase, they were close enough to be able to hear yet far enough that they would be able to beat a successful retreat if the need arose. It helped that while they couldn't see all that well, they were still able to pick up movements.

"I can't believe you guys talked me into this again," Akihiko grumbled.

Junpei scowled at him before returning his attention foreword. "Don't give me that," he snapped. "You were more curious than any of us. I know you go looking for her on Mondays and Fridays. Don't deny it."

The boxer sputtered and gazed in horror at the other boy. "I do _not!_ And we're training partners."

"Yeah yeah. Just admit you're jealous your best friend might be movin' in on your potential girl."

Yukari leveled them both with a glare that could kill. "Shut. _Up._" she snarled. The two promptly did as they were told.

Fuuka tugged lightly on the other girl's shoulder. "Oh, I think something's happening." The group quieted at once and all stared at rapt attention at the little window of vision they had been granted.

Riichi stretched and splayed herself out on the couch. Her arms folded on the arm of the couch and she lazily rested her chin on them. "Shin-ji-rou sen-pai!" she sung. The boy merely grunted in response. "You could be a little more enthusiastic," she teased. Her lips curled slightly and she leaned foreword. "Like saying, 'Yes dear,' or 'What is it honey'."

She giggled as Shinjirou looked up. His expression was a mystery since he was in the chair with it's back to the eavesdroppers. Akihiko found himself cursing their position. "Have I told you yet that you're annoying?"

The girl scowled lightly before sighing and twisting to lie on her back. "You really should let your guard down around me you know. It's not like there's anyone else here right now."

"And this isn't me doing that?" he retorted.

She hummed and smirked again. "I think you misunderstood me Senpai," she sung. "What I meant is you should be more lo-"

"_Don't_ finish that sentence!" Shinjirou snapped, rising slightly out of his chair. If Akihiko knew his friend - and he was pretty sure he did - it sounded as if the boy was blushing.

"What do you think she was going to say?" Fuuka whispered.

Yukari narrowed her gaze in thought. "Loose?" she guessed. "But that doesn't make any sense."

"I bet it was lovey-dovey," Junpei snickered. His attitude took a one-eighty when the others all simply rolled their eyes.

Riichi giggled again and the group quieted down to give her their undivided attention. "You know, you should be getting used to that by now. It's been a while."

"A while since what?" Akihiko found himself wondering aloud. The others all shrugged in response, wondering the exact same thing.

Shinjirou sighed and shook his head wearily. "I don't think there's a way to get used to anything if it involves you."

She puffed her cheeks out and scowled. "You sure know how to make a girl feel special," she pouted. A light chuckle was all the boy gave in response. After a few minutes she sat up and gazed at him cutely. "Hey Senpai,"

"No," was his immediate answer.

Riichi looked genuinely shocked. "You don't even know what I was going to say!" she accused him.

"Any time you call me 'senpai' when we're alone, you want something. And it's always something ridiculous." He lifted his head, and the group were under the impression that he was leveling her with a glare. "So no."

The girl managed to look both indignant and distressed at the same time. "So if I was going to ask if you minded that I'm spending the night in Junpei's room your answer would be no?"

Akihiko choked and had to fight hard to keep from reacting violently to this. The juniors all fluttered around him, attentions mixed between finding out if he was okay, and keeping him quiet. Though the majority of their attention was focused on figuring out whether or not she was lying. Junpei in particular looked rather confused.

They were all shocked into stillness when there was a low growl from the common area.

"You better be shitting me Riichi," Shinjirou growled. "Did he seriously ask you to-"

"Now that's the reaction I was looking for," the girl chuckled. When the boy continued to emanate a terrifying aura her smile softened. "He didn't, I swear. Even if he did, he'd probably spend the whole night gushing about how great Chidori is anyway."

"Damn right I would," Junpei muttered. "You hateful woman."

This was enough to get Shinjirou to settle back down again. The boy fidgeted for a few moments, and the look of amusement that flashed across Riichi's face didn't go unnoticed. Finally he gave a grand sigh and picked himself up. He maneuvered around the coffee table and flopped down on the couch next to the girl. Riichi, for all her acting skills, was unable to mask her surprise.

"Happy now? Now stop spouting nonsense." He opened his magazine back up and resumed all attempts at ignoring her.

The girl blinked a few times before she was able to recollect her wits. Riichi leaned foreword latching onto his arm and gently tearing it away from his hold on the magazine. "What are you doing?" Shinjirou finally asked, after she attempted a strange looking acrobatic move. He sounded much more amused than anything else.

Riichi sniffed in exertion before managing to wiggle under his arm, turn herself around and flop down haphazardly on his lap. "There," she chirped when she was finally settled. "Since you feel lonely without me, I'm giving you a special treat." Her eyes twinkled as her lips curled into a sly smile.

Shinjirou simply stared at her. "Even though you're the one who complains about sleeping alone all the time?"

Red couldn't even begin to describe the color Riichi's face flushed. "Th-that's not true!" she floundered. "It's not like I want to sleep in your room It's just, well you now, I…" She continued to trip over her words. After a string of failed attempts and a continuous low chuckle from Shinjirou, the girl gave up with a curse. "Oh shut up," she muttered, pushing against his chest in irritation.

There was a long period of silence, in which Shinjirou returned his attention to his magazine, Riichi ceased pouting, and the group attempted to understand what the hell had just happened. While one end of the room was for the most part content, the other was experiencing quite a bit of strife.

"Has Riichi-chan been having troubles sleeping?" Fuuka, ever the worrier, chose the least shocking thing to focus on.

"I didn't know they became that close," Akihiko murmured. He was much more preoccupied with his own convoluted thoughts to care what the others were doing. This was all becoming very distressful for him.

Junpei snickered under his breath. "I bet anything they're screwing." The girls both gave him looks of utter horror, though Yukari's had a far more acidic bite to it. Akihiko, on the other hand, didn't look as if he had even heard it. Miffed at the girls' expressions and even more displeased with Akihiko's failure to either agree or freak out, he snorted and returned his full-attention to the couple in the lounge. "Oh come off it. I _know_ you guys were thinking it too. Well, maybe not Fuuka but you know."

"No I _don't_ know," Yukari, who had managed to find her voice, hissed. "Did it ever cross your tiny, perverted mind that maybe they're just good friends?"

"And _I_ find Ms. Toriumi attractive," Junpei muttered snidely under his breath.

The brunette ignored him. "And I would rather not think about Riichi and, really anyone going at it. It's just, ew; I don't need that image of my best friend in my mind. The same goes for Shinjirou-senpai. Sans the best friend part." She shook her head again, as if the mere thought of either of those two having a physical relationship with anyone was simply disturbing.

Akihiko, who had missed that whole exchange, was continuing to ignore his underclassmen. Instead, he was busying himself with wondering why on earth Riichi was currently seated on Shinji's lap, and furthermore why he was so damn concerned with it. He leaned foreword further and was now in danger of falling over. Had his training as a boxer not perfected his balance he surely would be eating carpet now, instead of straining his ears to pick up whatever those two might be talking about. This was why he was able to catch what happened next.

Riichi fidgeted lightly. She worried her bottom lip and brought her hands up in front of her to play with her fingers. Shinjirou glanced down after a particularly noticeable squirm. He sighed and threw his magazine down on the coffee table. "Stop," he ordered, gently taking her chin in his left hand. "You're gonna make yourself bleed if you keep doing that."

The girl's cheeks might have tinged pink to the trained eye. "Sorry," she mumbled, refusing to meet his gaze.

Shinjirou shrugged and retracted his hand. "Don't apologize. It's not like I'm the one who's gonna be complaining that it hurts later."

She scowled slightly, and then the pink color was back again. "Um, Shinji?" Her voice was tentative, almost nervous.

"Dude," Junpei gave a low, almost inaudible whistle. "I thought that was like, your nickname for him." The three juniors had long silenced themselves to catch this new scene.

Akihiko shrugged, not really wanting to turn any attention away from what was happening in front of him. "This one kid way back when tried once. It didn't end too pretty."

Fuuka gave a soft nod of her head. "It doesn't seem like Shinjirou-senpai is really partial to nicknames."

"I'm surprised she's alive," Yukari added. "Well, I guess she's not our leader for nothing."

Shinjirou's questioning grunt brought them all back into observation mode.

Riichi bit her lip again and adjusted her position to sit up straighter. "Well, could we maybe, you know, go on a date?"

The group of eavesdroppers' shock rivaled that of Shinjirou's.

"Wait, what?" the senior blinked a few times in disbelief. "Riichi do you hear what's coming out of your mouth?"

She groaned in frustration and threw her hands in her lap. "God I _knew_ I would get this reaction."

"Then what would possess you to ask?" he snapped.

"Because I thought maybe for once you would show some damn interest. You never let me go anywhere with you." He opened his mouth to retort and was silenced at once. "Picking up coffee beans does not make me blush like a little girl. I don't get butterflies from trips to the police station for equipment. Going to the grocery store on a mandatory food run is _not _romantic, need I remind you." His mouth shut with an audible click. "Come on, take me to the movies or something?"

Shinjirou closed his eyes and leaned back against the sofa in exhaustion. Riichi puffed her cheeks out before she adopted a rather innocent expression. "Please?" she begged lightly, glancing up at the boy from under her lashes. If his barely cracked eyelids were any indication, it wasn't having much of an effect. "I'm lonely."

"Oh please," he snorted. "I'm not falling for this shit again."

She sniffed in a rather girlish fashion, all shy pleading and alluring eye-batting forgotten. "So you admit that you do fall for it on a regular basis." He made no comment. "Just admit it Shinji," she cooed, as she picked herself up and arranged herself so that she was straddling him. "You think it's _sexy_. You play stubborn jerk just so I'll act like that."

The boy cocked an eyebrow, clearly not amused. "You know, sometimes I have a hard time believing some of the shit that comes out of your mouth." He did though, the group (particularly Akihiko and Junpei) noted, place his hands on her hips in order to steady her.

Riichi chose to ignore this jab for looping her arms around his neck. "Come on, can we please go out? It doesn't even have to be high class or anything. I mean, you've already succeeded in wooing me so I don't really care where we go. Just please Shinji, picking up the dorm's groceries is not my idea of a 'good time'." She furrowed her eyebrows and gazed intently at him. "I'll even take a trip to the convenience store. I'm getting _desperate _here."

"Yeah you're bending over backwards aren't ya," he deadpanned.

"Oh _come on_!" she whined. "Be a proper boyfriend would you."

At that word Akihiko let out an almost shrill sound of distress. The group once more went into panic mode and fluttered around him to keep any further outbursts quiet. The boxer therefore, was the only one who caught the almost spiteful glare that Riichi shot in their direction (and if she hadn't been glaring more towards the kitchen he might have thought she knew they were there). As if screaming, '_Fuck this up for me and I __**will**__ mess you up._' Shinjirou, thankfully, had not seemed to have heard him.

There was a click of heels from higher up on the stairs and everything paused. A rather regal sounding throat cleared, and the group seated at the bottom of the stairs all looked up in horrified expectance. Mitsuru stood at the top of the landing, arms crossed primly over her chest, elegant eyebrow raised. Junpei pressed his hands together in a praying motion and silently begged the woman to keep quiet. The redhead's eyebrow only ticked a bit higher. With an elegant roll of her eyes, Mitsuru proceeded down the stairs and straight past the quivering group. She clicked out into the hallway and made her way over to the counter near the front door.

"Man is she like, _trying _to get us killed?" Junpei hissed quietly, voice going an octave higher in fear. "What if she like, blew our cover?"

Yukari rounded on him, expression a mixture of fury and mortification. "_That's_ what you're worried about?" she snarled. "Not the fact that we look like five year olds out here?" He gave a light, 'Pshaw', as if the thought was simply asinine.

"Oh my," Fuuka gasped in awe. "They moved awfully fast didn't they?"

The rest of the group all turned their gazes towards the couch. Riichi was now sitting on the opposite end, looking awfully bored as she examined the folds of her skirt. Shinjirou had managed to retrieve his magazine and was paying zero attention to either of the women in the room. They both were as far away from each other as it was possible to get while still being seated on the same piece of furniture. There was no hint at the conversation they had just had.

"Kind of makes you wonder how much practice you gotta have to get that good," Junpei voiced each of their thoughts.

Riichi was the first to break the façade. She looked up and shot a sweet smile towards Mitsuru. "Hello Senpai," she chirped. "I thought you had gone to bed already."

The redhead gave her a rather amused glance. "Arisato, it is seven twenty-three," she informed the girl. If Riichi was embarrassed at this obvious overlook, she didn't show it. Mitsuru booted up the computer and began to type. In the silence the click of her red nails against the keys almost echoed.

"Oh yes," Mitsuru looked up and waited for Riichi to do the same before continuing. "While I have no qualms with what either of you do in your free time," and by this point even Shinjirou had looked up in curiosity, "I do have to say that I would prefer if you don't let it interfere with SEES related things. Especially you Aragaki," she shot a pointed look at the boy, who cocked a challenging eyebrow. "I would rather prefer you deviate from disturbing Arisato's mental state."

Riichi flushed brilliantly and Shinjirou looked horrified. The senior growled menacingly and threw his magazine back at the coffee table with such force the abused object managed to bounce over it. "Oh fuck this!" he snarled. He stood up before bending down to grasp Riichi and pull her to her feet by her wrist.

"Where are we going?" the girl ventured as he pulled her across the floor towards the doors.

"Out," was his bitten reply. "I am not going to sit here and deal with this shit."

Riichi's eye lit up with hope. "Can I take that to mean this is a date?" She was practically glowing with excitement now.

He sighed in frustration. "Yeah, sure, whatever floats your damn feminine boat."

Mitsuru smiled and addressed them once more as they reached the front doors. "I'm glad to see you taking my advice Aragaki," she said, tone containing passive delight.

Shinjirou managed to flip her off with the hand that wasn't currently entwined with his junior's. "Bite me," he snapped, before throwing open the door in front of him and storming outside.

A heavy silence descended over the lounge and it's occupants. For several minutes the only sound that pervaded was the rhythmic clacking of the computer keys. Finally Mitsuru addressed the group still seated uncomfortably at the bottom of the stairs. "I hope this was enough to dispel any of your curiosities," she clipped. "Though I hope I am not being too optimistic in believing that this shall not cause problems for any of you." Her piercing stare made this more of an order than a simple desire.

Satisfied with their shaken expressions, Mitsuru returned her gaze towards the computer screen. "Oh, and I'm terribly sorry that you in particular were witness to whatever they did Akihiko. They're surprisingly affectionate in the strangest of places, and I know that you had a particular fancy towards Arisato."

This shocked Akihiko out of his stupor. He paled before flushing a dark red as he shot up. "I do _not_!" he snarled. "We're just training partners!" With that said he fled back up the stairs.

Junpei whistled, long and low. "Wow, did he sound like he was trying to convince himself, or did he sound like he was trying to convince himself?"

"I think I need to go lay down," Yukari voiced. "This is a little too much for me to handle right now."

Fuuka stood up and worriedly fluttered around the other girl the whole way up to the girl's hall. This left Mitsuru and Junpei. The boy drummed his fingers against his knee, not feeling compelled to move from his seated position on the second stair. "So," he drawled. "How long have you know about the two of them?"

"Too long," the woman clipped, her interest in the subject already waned.

The stairs creaked softly as Ken hesitantly made his way down them. "Um," the boy paused, looking uncomfortable and unsure. "I hope I'm not prying, but Sanada-san just ran into his room looking rather distressed. Is everything alright?"

The grin Junpei cracked was positively giddy. "Dude, you just missed the tragic ending to the most one-sided love triangle I have ever born witness to." Ken nodded though he didn't look any closer to understanding than he was three minutes ago. "I'll explain it when you're older."


	12. Oddity

_Bet you guys never thought you were getting another one of these huh? (Neither did I, to be honest.) It's lacking some polish but I think it's decent and I figured, hey why not put it up? So I did. _

**Oddity**

He had known how she was—all her little quirks and habits. Had known she was an optimist who mercilessly teased everyone and could sweet-talk her way out of an execution. He knew that she was something you couldn't pin down nor predict. But there would come times when he was reminded all over again that there was truly no way to completely understand the oddity that was Riichi Arisato.

"Is there a reason you're carrying that around?"

The girl looked up at him, wide red eyes alert with curiosity and smiles. She turned her gaze on the object in her hand before returning it to him. "Well, protection I guess?"

Shinjirou found himself sighing. "For one thing, we're going to the _grocery_ store. And another, is that supposed to be a jab meaning you don't trust me to protect you?"

Riichi allowed a sly smile to dance across her lips. "I hadn't intended it to be a blow to your masculinity Senpai," she chirped, ignoring his twitch of irritation. "You just never can tell these days though. What if we get attacked by a whole gang, and while you're fending off five or so of them, I end up being cornered by a few? Whatever shall I do if I don't have this for protection?" She sounded so sure of herself, with a raise of her nose and a jump in her step.

The boy took a moment to soak this in before responding. "You're carrying around a lacrosse stick, and you're telling me it's so you can fight off a gang?"

She nodded curtly. "Exactly."

He was unable to grasp her logic, and it took him a few moments of silence before he was finally able to form a response. "You didn't join a team did you?" The thought of her devoting time to something else made him exhausted. It shouldn't have been possible for someone with such a tiny frame to be involved in as much as she was.

Riichi gave a light laugh, regarding him with a bright smile. "That's silly, you know I don't have time for that. Plus, we don't have a lacrosse team for over a hundred miles." She laughed again, seeming to find the whole thing far more amusing than he thought it really was.

Shinjirou wasn't sure how to respond to this either, but rather than getting mocked again he decided this time to leave it at that. They walked in silence for a few more blocks. It wasn't unusual for them, though he had to admit it had been a while since Riichi had kept her mouth shut for a long period of time. He really would have liked to keep it that way (it wasn't that he didn't like hearing her talk, but honestly it was nice to have her run out of things to babble about for once; especially because the majority of topics that she introduced were stranger than strange) but the curiosity was eating him up inside. And not being accustomed to _being_ curious, the boy was at a loss at how to squash it before it could grow anymore.

"So where the hell did you find that?" he asked. He certainly had it bad if he was acting this idiotically because of a girl and her choice of sports gear.

Riichi cocked her head lightly, seeming to think this sudden desire to talk as strange as he did. "Well," she said, focusing her gaze back in front of her. "It was a gift from a friend."

The boy eyed her carefully. "A friend?" he tested, not really sure if he should believe her. After all what kind of friend gave lacrosse sticks as gifts to people who didn't even play the sport?

She nodded once, bright smile engulfing her face again. "Yup. It's the same friend who gave me that bat. You know, the one with all those nails drilled into it." Shinjirou began wondering if maybe he should pay closer attention to who she was hanging around with. The damn girl was going to get herself into trouble. "Oh he also gave me the Jack gloves I gave to Akihiko-senpai" Her smile brightened and she giggled lightly. "I thought they were really cute, so I made sure to ask for them first."

"And he just gives these things to you?"

This time she shook her head. "Of course not," she snipped through pursed lips. "I'm not someone who just takes things. I'm the one who runs errands for him first."

Was she pouting now? By the sharp look in her eyes he was pretty sure she was. This thought made him smirk a little in amusement before he realized what he had just said. "You run errands?"

Another nod. "Nothing big really. Normally it's just things like 'bring back the hair of this monster'. Stuff like that. Oh! Sometimes he asks me for odd things though." He didn't miss the fact that she was basically saying wanting a shadow's hair wasn't odd. "I got him a model from the science classroom once. It was creepy looking, I have to say."

Shinjirou found himself unsure of whether he was irritated or curious. She was speaking so animatedly about whoever 'he' was. It was kind of unnerving to know he had no name or face to the guy. "So," he started, treading carefully over the matter. "Do I know this guy?" It wouldn't be good to appear too interested. She'd take it the wrong way and start teasing him about some imagined jealousy.

Riichi paused, placed a finger to her lips, and seemed to be deep in thought. "I don't _think _so," she finally said. "Does the name Theodore ring a bell?"

He gave her a strange look before giving a blunt, "No."

The girl held up her hand and shook her index finger twice. "There you have it then," she stated. "Though, I'm not entirely sure about Theo myself."

Well this was certainly reassuring. Not only was this 'Theo' guy giving her strange objects (Really? A nail-ridden bat? Why the hell had she even agreed to take it?) but she had just admitted to not even really knowing him. Had she always been this naïve?

"We're almost out of pickled radish aren't we?" Riichi's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "And we're probably going to need some more rice. Mitsuru-senpai commented on it earlier today. I think it was a veiled request to get some."

"I don't know about request," he muttered. "Knowing that woman it was probably an order."

Riichi let out a laugh. "She does it out of love," she chided lightly. "You know, maybe that's her problem."

Shinjirou focused skeptical eyes on her. "What?"

"Senpai doesn't have anyone to love." He gave her a look that clearly stated he thought anything but, one of which she ignored without even batting an eye. "We should find her a nice boy," the girl continued. "Someone up to her standards. Who can hold his own against her."

"Is that even possible?" he snorted. She ignored him.

"I'd say Hidetoshi-kun, but they don't seem to really like each other. Respect yeah, whole lotta that, but love on the other hand. Besides he's already confessed to…." she trailed off, and he swore she was looking rather green now. Before he had any chance to comment on it Riichi jabbed her not-really-a-weapon-weapon in front of her and shouted, "We're going to be late getting back! We gotta hurry now Senpai!"

Shinjirou was taken aback for a moment. Really, this girl would never stop surprising him. It had taken him until this moment for it to occur to him how off-topic her whole Mitsuru-spiel had been, and the fact that it _had_ taken him that long meant that he really was becoming used to her general foolishness. It probably didn't help that she herself didn't seem to notice how random she was being now. The point was driven home when the girl twirled the lacrosse stick in her hand before raising it in front of her and scrutinizing it with narrowed and laughing eyes. Then again, perhaps it was a good thing her strangeness wasn't that strange anymore. It saved him a host of headaches.

"Hey, we'll stop by the convenience store on the way home. I'll treat you to some ice cream."

The girl looked up at him with confused eyes. "Senpai, you're really strange," she finally settled on. Though she made no attempt to try and talk him out of his proposal.

Shinjirou couldn't help the chuckle that escaped. "You're one to talk."


End file.
